The Rinnegan War
by the greek
Summary: As Konoha rebuilds itself from Pain's attack, Naruto prepares himself for the great clash that will inevitably follow. Follow his fight for Konoha and his own revenge against the man that nearly took everything away from him. NaruXHina, obviously.
1. Chapter 1

The last rays of the sun invaded the room as a blond woman set aside a dusty stack of paperwork: her worst enemy.

It had been a long last few days. The death of Jiraiya and the departure of the blond boy filled her thoughts. As she prepared to leave, a strange presence began to fill the room.

A chakra signature, one she hadn't felt in decades radiated throughout her office. She recognized the technique, strode over to her windows, and pulled the curtains.

"Come in", said Tsunade.

Nothing happened. Then, a black hole appeared in mid-air, and a hand reached out of it. The rest of the body followed it shortly. A man dressed in a black travelling cloak, grey pants, and wooden sandals and a rain hat stood before her. His straw hat hid everything except his mouth due to the angle it sat upon his head. And on her carpet, was a lot of sand.

Tsunade popped a nerve.

"15 years I haven't seen you, and you pull a damn joke on me!" she yelled at the intruder.

"15 years you haven't seen me and you get mad?" the man smiled. He continued, "I was in a desert when I was contacted about that pervert. I was even nice enough to come straight away to your office!"

"As long as you clean up", grumbled Tsunade. Reaching for the sake she hid in her desk, she asked, "What have you been up to these years?"

"I've been adventuring into the world of salesmen", he said, sitting down and taking his cloak off at the same time. A scroll stuck out at the fold of a gray shirt very similiar to Jiraiya's.

"What exactly could you sell?, Tsunade teased, aside from your... talents?

"I sell art, books, metalwork, and information," he grumbled while pouring sake. "I'll give you a discount," he said with a grin.

Tsunade chuckled and downed her cup in one drink.

"It's been quite some time since I stopped by, Tsunade. Tell me, how is Kushina's kid?", he inquired, stretching.

"He's actually turned into quite something , she replied, Why do you ask?"

The man shrugged and took a drink. "I don't know", he stated. He looked thoughtful for a moment and asked, "Can I meet him?"

"He''s at Myobukuzan."

"Did Jiraiya train him?"

"Yes." Tsunade immediately looked sad at the mention of her ex-teammate.

"Do you know who killed him?", the stranger asked.

"According to our info, he is based in the Hidden Rain Village and is the leader of an organization made of S-Class criminals, including some names even you know. Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, among others. He calls himself Pain."

"Sounds like a charming fellow," he yawned. "Is that bastard Danzo still around? I feel like killing him."

"Unfortunately yes. He has his own division of ANBU," replied Tsunade.

"That's not good at all. Knowing him, he'll grab power as soon as their was an opportunity, if he had enough men.

The stranger drank his sake and stated, "I'll go find a place to sleep. Then I'll look for some aquaintaces of mine. You look tired, so we'll talk more tomorrow."

"What should I call you? Obviously, I can't use your other name," Tsunade said, wondering what he would choose.

The stranger thought for a second.

"These days, they call me Tsubasa. Nice meeting you, Hokage-san," he said with a smile from under his hat.

"Get rid of this damn sand," said Tsunade. She moved towards the nearest window and opened it. The stranger made a single handsign, and the sand blew through the room and out the window.

"Aah! My eyes you idiot," shouted Tsunade. But the stranger jumped out the window and jumped away as fast as he could.

Time doesn't change him at all..., thought the Hokage. A breeze infiltrated the room through the window. Tsubasa was entirely too fitting a name. She shivered, not entirely from the cold. Seeing him brought back memories from the old days.

Some memories that should be forgotten.

"Tsubasa" woke up the next day with a start. _"Kami, it's only noon. I don't wake up this early usually. What a bummer. There must be something going on."_

His nose twitched. _"Smoke?!"_ He strode to the nearest window and opened it.

Columns of smoke were rising from the center of Konoha. He could hear the explosions from there.

_"How random, they're being invaded",_ he thought unworried. _"Maybe I should help out.."_

He dressed himself, grabbed a scroll and jumped out the window.

_"I don't see an army. Whoever is attacking must be in small numbers. They're ballsy..."_

Kakashi lay buried amid the wreckage, his final thoughts circulating through his brain. He finally closed his eyes. He could have sworn he heard footsteps.

Ino, Inoichi, Shizune, and the ANBU member crouched while discussing their enemy. They were connecting the dots when a man in a black cloak with red clouds jumped in their midst, dropping a smoke bomb at the same time. The man snagged one of them and entered her mind. The location of their target was there. "Myobukuzan," he said aloud. His work was finished. He might as well kill the girl...

There was a dark flash and his body fell to the earth, his head following not to soon after. There was a splash of blood. As Shizune lay on the ground gasping for breath, a man in black picked up the head and examined it.

"Impossible!" he said aloud. The Rinnegan! in the east of all places, what the hell was happening? Then he noticed that the blond man was looking at him cautiously, evaluating whether he was a friend or foe.

"You're Inoichi, right?" he asked.

The man nodded in response, and said, "You look familiar, but I don't know your name?"

"Not many do", he countered. He was about to ask the situation when the head disappeared from his hands.

"A summoning?" he thought. Beneath the rain hat his eyes narrowed. He looked up. A man was in midair in the middle of the village. _Not Good!!!_

"Get down!!" he shouted. Everything was blown away. He felt an enormous surge of chakra at the middle of the massive crater in Konoha.

_"That's toad chakra, and..,_ he paused, _a sage?_

"You guys look for survivors, I'll see what's going on," he stated before jumping away.

He saw a rather familiar site at the edge of the crater

Rather familiar, because Tsunade didn't look like a 20 year old.

He approached her and said with a smile, "Damn, you look awful"

A pink haired kunoichi glared at him. He ignored her. He reached for the scroll and spread it out. It was longer than it looked. He finally placed his hand on it and summoned a vial filled with a light blue liquid.

He approached Tsunade and said, "Drink this Tsunade, it will help". He poured a drop on her tongue. She looked a bit more lively. Just a bit.

He then demanded, "Now explain what the hell is going on, and who is taking on the Six Paths by himself?"

"Naruto."

"A kid?!"

The pink haired kunoichi looked at him and said," He's very strong"

He looked at her and smiled. Sakura flinched, his smile was very... strange. "Little girl, you don't know the meaning of the word. But you're about to learn it." He turned to Tsunade.

"Tsunade, isn't he the one Mi- the Yondaime used to-

"Yeah", she said breathlessly.

_"Hmm. That's not good."_He went back to his scroll. Twice, there was a puff of smoke. Sakura just glimpsed two pieces of paper with a bunch of kanji on them.

"What are those for?" inquired Tsunade.

"One is something useful against this Pain", he said with a smile.

"And the other one?"

"That's for when the Kyuubi idiot loses control of himself and decides to take that pet for a walk." He again ignored the girl's furious glare.

"Why will that happen?"

"Cause he's been captured", the man said pointing.

True enough, Naruto lay entrapped within Hungry Ghost's hungry embrace. Until he started to transform into a frog. Freeing himself from the half-frog corpse, he was about to attack God Realm when Fukasaku suddenly went flying towards Pain. A sharpened rod appeared out of Pain's right sleeve and pierced the little frog's body.

"The frogs are gonna lose a lot some summonings," grumbled the man (Gamakichi looked worried). "Maybe I should intervene. What do you think, Tsunade?"

"No. This is his fight." she affirmed.

"Yeah", he said as he saw Pain stick a rod through Naruto's hands. "Well, your loss."

_"I'll just wait a bit. If he doesn't find a way out soon, I'll intervene before he ca-"_

He paused as he watched Pain stick the little sticks over Naruto's body.

"Sorry Tsunade, he won't get out of there without help", he remarked. He still didn't move.

_"Fool..."_

Suddenly, a pretty white-eyed girl confronted God Realm.

_"A Hyuuga?! She won't last five seconds against those abilities! Is she craz-- Shit! She looks just like- Aw crap!!"_ he yelled to himself as he watched Pain stab her.

"More work for me", he remarked bitterly.

All of a sudden, there was a massive explosion of some terrifying chakra, and he could vaguely see six tails waving about.

As the six tails moved to engage Pain, he moved quickly to the Hyuuga girl, almost a corpse.

She was very light, and it took no trouble for him to carry her away from the fight, back to where the Hokage was resting.

"Hinata," murmured bubble-gum-head as he lay her down.

Pain had stabbed her heart, she was giving out fast. Sakura could do nothing for her. But **he** could.

He took out of a pouch a tiny vial. It had a shimmering blue color that seemed to shine with a different hue every moment.

He unstopped the vial and poured a few drops over the wound. _"Damn, too much. Just her luck. And her future husband's..."_

"Heal her", he told the other girl.

She shook her head.

"I can't heal that kind of -"

"I said, **heal** her. Or she really will die."

The girl stared at him a moment, nodded slowly, stuck her hands over the Hyuuga's heart, and began to mend the tissue.

There was a roar and a massive explosion of chakra.

He shivered and looked at Tsunade.

"Want me to take care of this?" he asked

"I guess so," she said feebly.

"You should have told me the guy had those eyes. This complicates things. A lot," he remarked before speeding towards the clash.

He waited and waited for an opening, and just as Pain was about to be disintegrated by a huge blast of chakra, a shadow appeared behind the Naruto. It stuck a hand out and slapped something on the back of the his head.

"Sorry boy, but I'm afraid killing him won't do me any good."

The seal began to glow a vibrant red, and the demon chakra started to go into the seal, leaving burnt skin behind.

The man looked at the collapsed boy, and then at Pain. He smiled.

"Your turn now, friggin' corpse!" he exclaimed with glee.

He jumped back and rapidly began making seals.

Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!

A massive fireball sped towards Pain. Too big to evade. Only one option then.

"Shinra Tensei." The fireball dissipated at it encountered Pain's repelling technique.

Exactly what was supposed to happen. Before he could turn around, he was caught in an armlock and something was plastered on his head too.

Nothing happened.

"Shinra Tensei", he repeated.

Nothing happened.

"Good, good, now let's have a little chat, the man remarked, but before that..."

Pain's right arm fell to the ground before you could blink.

"I thought you guys stayed in The Sky. Did you or your parents run from home?" inquired Tsubasa.

No response.

"Do you lead this.. Akatsuki"

"Yes"

"And of course, if you're collecting the Bijuu, you'll be using that statue. That means..." he trailed off. Then he said abruptly:

"Who did you send after the Hachibi?"

No response.

"Come on, come on. You need the other demons before getting the Kyuubi, so you obviously sent someone after it. Who?"

Nagato was beginning to wonder. He knew the man was behind him, but he had the constant sensation of a blade being pressed against his neck.

"Why would I tell you?"

"Because I'll show you something in return. You won't regret it. Or I'll take this damn body and cut it into pieces so little you'll you won't be healing him. Jiraiya said he had a student with the rinnegan once. I recognized some of the bodies from the stories he told me. So this must mean something to you..."

"Uchiha Sasuke," Pain said suddenly.

"Beg your pardon?"

"Uchiha Sasuke. We sent him to capture the Hachibi."

_"Damn you,"_ he thought. But on the other hand...

"Oh, good. I thought you might actually send someone who knew how to capture a jinchuuriki."

"I've been assured that he is reliable. All that is necessary for our goals is the kyuubi."

"No, the eight-tails host is someone a lot smarter than he looks. Or sounds. What are you going to do when you find out he's failed. Kill him?"

"Those who cannot help Akatsuki progress are unnecessary. If he has hindered us in any significant way or betrayed us, he will be dealt with."

_"No matter what Madara wants, I will not stand foolishness from either of them,"_thought Nagato.

"Fine. As I said, I will show you something." He took of his hat.

"You are..!"

"Oho! So you are familiar with the East... Get out of here. You're nearly out of chakra. I have plenty. I know your secrets. I already know where you a-"

The Pain puffed. When the smoke cleared, he was gone.

_"That went well."_He strode over to Naruto. _"What an idiot. Couldn't control himself. Well, maybe I am a bit too cold... After all, he's probably not used to seeing comrades killed."_

He picked him up and carried him back.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief when the man appeared with Naruto. She walked over and began to heal his skin.

"Always getting hurt," she muttered.

_"But what was that thing the guy used on Hinata? As soon as I healed her tissue, she was fine. Just blood loss. She should've died,"_ thought Sakura with a grimace.

"Satisfied?" she heard the man address Tsunade-sama.

"As always," she replied.

"Good. Now let me talk to him."

Without waiting for an answer, he apppeared next to Sakura and woke Naruto up.

Naruto squinted as his eyes opened. The sun was blinding.

_"How long have I been out?",_ he wondered. He was about to ask when-

WHAM!

Clutching the side of his face, he looked furiously for the offender. It was a tall man, wearing wooden sandals, grey pants, a rain hat, and a black cloak unclasped in front that stretched to his shins. It was billowing in the wind.

"Who the hell are you?! And what was that for?!"

WHAM!

"Respect, idiot. And that was for being stupid. Engaging an enemy you couldn't defeat without destroying what remains of the village. You should've stayed at Myobukuzan. He can't know the way there.

"Hey you-"

"I've lost interest in you, Tsubasa remarked, I have other urgent matters to attend to. Like Uchiha Sasuke. Do you know him? He's from here, and he's about your age."

"Sasuke-kun is our teammate," Sakura interrupted.

"Oh really?"

Tsunade already knew where this was going.

"No. You aren't going."

"Where?, Tsubasa asked innocently."

"I need my shinobi, now is not the time to go after a missing nin. So no."

"Tsunade, who said I need your shinobi? If I really, really want to track him down, I'll do it myself."

Tsunade sighed. Her friend was very hard to interpret. He of course, had known Naruto was on the same team as the Uchiha, but he was right.

If he wanted to, he would retrieve Sasuke by himself. Maybe, he was thinking it might be easier to retrieve Sasuke if there were people he knew present. Maybe he wanted to respect Naruto's feelings? No, more likely, he wanted something else too... Besides, what was there for Naruto to do in Konoha? Maybe his shadow clones would help. And Sakura definently would be a great help. But if Naruto was going, Sakura was going too. And she remembered how Tsubasa was very close to Kushina, he would want to spend time with Naruto, even if it was on a battlefield. And Naruto would start whining to go very soon, too.

"Do you want to go, brat?" Tsunade asked.

"Really oba-chan?!" His eyes gleamed.

She nodded.

"Yes! Now we'll really get Sas-" he stopped. They looked at him.

"Hinata. Is she ok? " he asked. His expression changed to one of worry.

Sakura smiled. Maybe, just maybe he had caught on.

"She's okay. She'll wake up in a few hours."

"Oh. That's good. I thought he killed her."

"We noticed," Tsubasa said, _"Funny, such a pretty girl would sacrifice herself for an idiot."_

"Anyway, if you guys can get a teammate, we'll leave."

"Then we'll get Sai. But what about equipment?"

"I'll supply you myself."

Fine. We'll go look for them.

"Actually, Sai is on a miss-," Tsunade was saying.

"Naruto!"

Yamato landed in front of them.

"What happened to Kyuubi?" As he asked, Sai and Anko landed next to him; both were shocked by the state of the village.

"A friend of mine took care of him," Tsunade answered, glancing towards Tsubasa.

"Sai, Naruto and Sakura would like your company on a mission," she said.

"Shouldn't I go, Tsunade-sama?" Yamato asked.

"It's okay. I need you here.

"Another?" Sai asked. "I'll go. It's fine."

Tsubasa nodded. "You three meet me at the gate in half an hour."

Sakura started leaving but Naruto hung back.

"Ba-Chan, take of care of Hinata, will you?"

"I would have done so anyway. Why?"

"Oh, um well you see, she um, got hurt because of me so..." he trailed off, growing rather pink.

"Just go."

Then Tsunade realized it. "_I didn't see anyone from Root in the fighting!"_

Sakura and Naruto were leaving.

Tsubasa seemingly read her thoughts. "Don't worry, Danzo won't think of anything if I'm here," Tsubasa reassured.

"I hope so," replied Tsunade.

"Funny, I don't know who that is," Tsubasa said, looking curiously at Sai.

"He's root."

"Funny. You'd think that he'd be informed of something like that, right?"

There was silence for a few moments.

"He wasn't what I expected. I thought he'd be more like his father," said Tsubasa out of the blue.

"He gets his annoyingness and loud voice from his mother," Tsunade said quietly.

"I meant in terms of abilities."

"Well, Tsunade said with a touch of bitterness, there was no one to teach him."

"You know I can't stay here," he responded.

"But you could have helped him when he left the village!"

He fell silent.

"Would you like me to?"

"You mean it?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"He'll need it."

"For what?"

"For the wars that will come."

"What?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. In the West there is tension between nations and suspicious border movement everywhere. And it's not just there. There has been more shipping of goods from some western nations to the Crossroads, which indicates that the final destination of the goods is here in the east. That can only be trouble. If they were to involve the Elemental Countries in their affairs, you would be crushed. They have numbers, technology, and a lot of skill. And this Akatsuki business is unnerving me. So, will you take me up on my offer?"

"How long would you take him for?"

"Depends on his capacity."

"No more than a year then."

"Done. As long as he doesn't come back addicted to smoking, sake, and women."

"Wonderful to know you think so highly of me," grumbled Tsubasa as he adjusted his rain hat.

Sakura, Naruto, and Sai were waiting at the front gate, although they lent a hand to those nearby, either removing pieces of rubble or healing citizens.

"Who do you think that guy is, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked loudly.

"I think he's a friend of Hokage-sama," Sakura responded.

"He's a meanie. The first thing he does when I wake up is to punch me! After almost dying too!" Naruto ranted.

"I kind of agree. But he saved Hinata. If it wasn't for him..." Sakura said, failing to notice the change of color in Naruto's cheeks.

"He's late," Sai remarked suddenly.

"...They're Kakashi's students," Tsunade told Tsubasa.

"Oh? Did he actually grow up? Maybe it might actually be fun to spar with him now. Little stuckup."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Huh? For what? You mean for **this**? Isn't that your job?"

"Shut up. You know a lot of things around the world. You could get help from anywhere."

"Well, you might request some aid from your allies to start. A good deal might be the Raikage."

"Raikage?! The Hyuuga wouldn't stand for that. Why him?"

"Because the eight-tails host is his brother. Uchiha Sasuke attempted to capture him a day or two ago. He would understand your concerns on this Akatsuki, although I'm sure that they failed to capture him, because they sent someone so experienced and unmotivated. Now, the harder part is to replace all the ninja you lost."

"I guess there were quite a few."

"Well, because of the tense situation east of the mountains, a lot of people are rather worried. I know a few clan heads in particular. They might want to migrate away, because a war here isn't as bad as a war there. And they have heard of Konoha and some of its legends. For now, try to fix this mess. I'll help you here in Jiraiya's stead."

He smiled. "I'll offer you a discount on all books, art pieces, and information folders you wish to purchase."

"Thanks a lot."

"I owe Konoha some services. They owe me a lot. And- whoops! I'm late!"

Tsubasa jumped off.

"You're late!" shouted Naruto.

"I didn't ask. Are you better?"

"I guess so."

"Good. We sleep in Lightning Country tonight."

"NANI!? That's too far!"

"Then you can stay."

Naruto made a face and grumbled his agreement.

"Let's go."

They sped off.

Sakura was very tired. It was close to eleven. They were already rather deep into Lightning Country. Maybe it was the soldier pills they had been given. Either way, she was glad to be able to rest. Her eyelids were already fluttering when the man called Tsubasa entered the tent they had made. She sat up.

"Ok young ones, here's the plan: Tomorrow we reach Unraikyo, where Sasuke and a group engaged the Hachibi. I'll go in alone. This way it's easier to get a trace of him. Then we will follow him and force him back to Konoha. Simple as that."

She thought she heard Naruto question something before falling asleep.

Naruto woke up first. It was seven thirty. He was still sleepy when he saw the man sitting cross-legged and staring straight ahead. Wierd. At least he would help.

"You. Go wake up the others, we shouldn't stay too long. A cloud ninja could find us at any moment," ordered Tsubasa.

"Fine. Sai! Sakura-chan! Wake up!" he shouted inside the tent.

Half an hour later they started to leave when Sakura noticed something. He was preparing to leave in a direction away from Unraikyo.

"Isn't it the other way?" she inquired.

"I changed my mind. I went by myself last night. I already got a trace," responded Tsubasa.

"So you just lead us to where he is?"

"No. Follow that," he answered, pointing towards the sky, where there was one birdlike shape flying. He suddenly took off in the same direction the vague shape was headed. They quickly followed.

They continued through the country for about a half a day, and the vegetation slowly became more scarce, giving away to bare valleys. For the Konoha ninjas, it was a rare sight, having grown up in green Fire Country. The terrain here was desolate and dead compared to their homeland.

Tsubasa suddenly signaled for them to stop.

"What is it?" Sai asked.

"He stopped," Tsubasa anwsered, pointing to the birdlike shape. He must think there's a good chakra sensor. Which in this case means we need to plan. It's gonna be easy. I go in first. I just get their attention. And you surround them and come out on my mark."

"What? It's that easy? The chakra sensor was excellent the last time," warned Sakura.

"That's because you didn't have me."

She wasn't convinced.

"If you REALLY have to know, I have a trick that can confuse him or her long enough for you guys to surround them. I don't care really what happens to the others, but taking them alive seems better.

"Naruto, did you do what I told you to last night?"

"Yeah."

"This should be easy then."

"Sasuke should be directly under him", Tsubasa said while pointing. "Go!"

They all sped away through the valley.

But Tsubasa was already gone from their sight.

Karin was busy attempting to use Sasuke's shoulder as a pillow when she suddenly became fully alert.

"Sasuke, someone's coming! I can't recognize him, but he doesn't seem to have a lot of chakra. But -- that's strange," she said frowning.

"What?", replied a bored Sasuke.

"His chakra level is fluctuating. Higher and lower. Now-- now I can't feel him at all!"

"Not like that helps him hide, look," pointed Suigetsu.

A man dressed in travel garb appeared.

"Who are you?" demanded Sasuke while rising to his feet.

"Is something the matter?". The man's voice sounded ironic and sarcastic.

"Don't kid with us, dip shit, retorted Suigetsu. Juugo said nothing.

"So edgy," sighed the man, there's a water source a kilometer down."

"Really?" Suigetsu's face lit up.

"We aren't going there, you idiot! Hey! Where do you think you're going?" shouted Karin.

"Why wouldn't I be going?"

"Are you the one who's blocking me?"

"Pardon me?"

"Oh fine, you can- Sasuke, get down!!"

He saw a flash of pink.

_"Shit."_

There was a tremendous crater. The group however, was already in the air.

"Now Sai!!"

An ink bird came down and assailed the group with ink pellets. One struck Karin's arm, and she lost her balance due to the shock, creating an opening for Sakura, who jumped up high and kneed her in the gut. Karin collapsed immediately.

Sasuke observed the two of them.

"Where's Naruto?"

He became aware of a screeching sound behind him.

"Rasengan!!"

Sasuke easily evaded the jutsu.

"Long time no see, teme!" Naruto said with enthusiasm.

Sasuke grunted, he noticed the big scroll on Naruto's back. He guessed it wasn't for show.

"Oy, Sasuke, what do you think we should do?" asked Suigetsu. He wasn't worried at all.

"Fight, obviously."

"My favorite anwser!"

"Now, which of these guys is the best?"

"Maybe him?" pointed Sasuke. The man had stood still, not taking advantage of any opening. What a fool.

"Guess I'll leave the kids to the kids!" Suigetsu exclaimed and charged the man.

"Idiot," muttered Juugo.

Suigetsu edged closer and closer and closer, but there was no movement at all from his opponent

"Hyaa!" he yelled as he swung the massive blade.

There was a huge crash.

"What the?" ...

Tsubasa had simply sidestepped at the last second.

"Looks like that thing is pretty heavy, because my great-grandmother could aim better with that toy," teased the man. Suigetsu snarled and charged him again.

Sakura and Naruto meanwhile confronted their former teammate.

"This time, Sasuke, you will come with us!"

"I have no desire to return to Konoha," he said, with a touch of anger.

"Like I care!" Naruto took out a kunai and charged.

"Naruto! Don't be stupid!" shouted Sakura.

"Your death, idiot," Sasuke remarked with no emotion before blocking him effortlessly.

Meanwhile Sai looked at Juugo. Juugo was unsure of himself. He wanted to fight for Sasuke, but he wasn't sure of the extent of his abilities.

"Are you going to fight?"Sai asked.

"If I can," responded Juugo.

Sai took out his scroll. Ninpou: Chouju Gigaa!

Two lions appeared and rushed Juugo.

Naruto struck out again and again, but he could tell that Sasuke was toying with him.

Sasuke blocked once more and pulled back.

"You think you can defeat me and take me back to Konoha? I pity you," said Sasuke while closing his eyes. "I'll show you my power. Power that you can never match. He opened his eyes. A strange flower-like sharingan was imprinted on them. Immediately, Naruto was encased in a powerful genjutsu.

_"What the-_ Aah!" he cried as he began to feel pain. He looked down to see a black sword shoved up to the hilt in his stomach. The world was red and black.

"Aah!" he cried again as he was stabbed in a lung.

"Naruto?" Sakura saw her comrade fall to his knees. _"What the hell is going on?"_

Tsubasa paused to look at Sasuke. "What a pain. Itachi really did give Sasuke his eyes. I thought he would. I wonder if Naruto can get out of that?"

Naruto kneeled in the world of Tsukuyomi. Suddenly, the pain began to cease. His vision started mixing the real world and the illusion.

Was Sasuke unable to keep the illusion up?

He charged his chakra and forced it out, just like Jiraiya once taught him.

His vision stabilized. But the biggest surprise was that Sasuke fell to his knees panting.

_"He didn't use the Kyuubi's chakra, and was still able to get away! How is that possible? And why did I feel like I was fighting an Uchiha for a second? No, that was no Uchiha. That was Itachi. I'm almost sure of it!"_

Naruto grinned. "Some power, eh Sasuke?" He laughed. Then he ran forward again, throwing a few shuriken and drawing a kunai.

Sasuke swore and jumped back. That had taken a lot out of him. He still had some options. He could use his sword. Maybe a chidori. Fire techniques too. And there was Ameratsu. All were viable options. Except for one thing: The man fighting Suigetsu.

Sasuke didn't doubt that if the guy wanted to, he could break Suigetsu's neck, step in and save Naruto. If he was as strong as he was, he could only guess. But with Juugo occupied, he would be doing this alone. Maybe, it would be more prudent to use a technique that would finish off Naruto. And the rest of them. The lightning strike was out of the question. That left Ameratsu. It would definitely finish them off. It had worked against the eight-tails. Why not here?

_"He's your friend,"_ someone whispered in the back of his mind.

_"Was,"_ said a voice that was more like his.

_"The only person you ever had any real attachment to, aside from Itachi."_

_"I don't care. I have only hate for Konoha. He's no friend of mine."_

_"What would Itachi say? What would he want for you? A life of running away? Of treachery and dishonor? The last Uchiha, a criminal?"_

_"Shut up!! Itachi is dead!"_

"Ameratsu," Sasuke whispered.

His left eye bled and black flames leaped up, eating anything in their path. In this case Naruto.

"Gyaaaah!!!!" Naruto yelled. He attempted to cover himself as the black flames consumed him.

"Naruto!" Sasuke vaguely heard Sakura call.

"Tsubasa looked. "Aw come on. I was just having fun here. But I didn't think he would do that to his ex-comrade.

Then Sasuke felt it. A big pain, coming from his eye. He swore silently, and doubled his concentration.

Naruto was fighting back.

"Impossible! Only an Uchiha can do that, and only one with Mangekyou Sharingan at that!

The black flames began to disappear. Soon, they were gone. Naruto was crouching on the ground, breathing heavily.

"My body responded on its own. Why? Could it be that Itachi actually did give me something?" he thought, remembering his last encounter with the man.

"So that is your power, Sasuke? Not bad at all! Now, I'll show you mine!" he took the scroll behind his back and opened it. He pressed his hand to the paper and a clone appeared, deep in meditation. Naruto quickly undid the jutsu.

Sasuke could now feel tremendous power coming from Naruto. He saw his eyes. The skin around them was red, and his pupils had turned yellow. Not Kyuubi eyes.

Sasuke got up and held his blade in the ready position. Naruto charged at an unbelievable speed. Sasuke could keep up with him though.

He pushed off and charged Naruto.

"Is he that dumb? I have a better weapon, and my reach is longer!"

The two met in the middle. Sasuke swung with such speed that Sakura could barely see it. At the same time he dove towards his left, avoiding Naruto's basic and vulnerable punch.

The sword was still crossing Naruto's chest when he felt something hit his cheek. Before he knew it, Sasuke had landed about 30 meters away. He wiped the blood from his mouth and rubbed his cheek.

"What the hell?"

He got up. Now he had to take this seriously. He was going to lose. He had used his best techniques at the start, and both of them failed, resulting in an immense loss of chakra. He charged his blade with electricity, This might work.

"You don't seem to talk so much anymore, dobe", he remarked.

"Damn Sasuke and his Chidori," thought Naruto.

_"That's it!!!"_

Chidori is a lightning technique. He was a wind type. He remembered Kakashi's words: The jutsu would be weak against Fire, but strong against Chidori. He wouldn't do a Rasenshuriken. A fuuton rasengan would suffice.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Four clones burst out and five Narutos charged Sasuke.

I can't tell the real one apart, Sasuke noted bitterly. He was weakened enough already. He didn't have the luxury of prolonging a fight. Not with their medic out, and not with that stranger present. He would have to resolve this fast. He dispatched the clones and spotted Naruto forming a rasengan.

"I only need my strength to take you back to the village, Sasuke!"

"There you go again. Talking about dreams and what you can only hope to accomplish."

Sasuke charged, his arm preparing to swing the chidori-charged sword. Naruto smiled and ran forward with the rasengan.

"This doesn't look too good," thought Sakura. The others were engaged, but she doubted she could do much. She would probably be a liability. Her best chance was to wait for an opportunity, as the techniques being used were to strong for her.

"Baka," Sasuke said out loud.

"Hehe," grinned Naruto.

His rasengan collided with Sasuke's charged sword.

There was a huge cracking sound as Sasuke's sword was split into fragments where Naruto had hit his sword.

"What the hell?! His rasengan could match my chidori, but not overpower it," he thought remembering their last real battle.

But the rasengan kept going, and hit Sasuke in the stomach. He coughed up blood and was sent spiraling away into the dirt.

"Now's my chance!" thought Sakura.

The last thing Sasuke saw was a fist coming down on his head.

"Shannaro!!" yelled Sakura.

"Sasuke!", cried Juugo. The distraction was enough for Sai to pin him under one of his beasts.

"Uh-oh,", the man said, they've finished up!"

"Bye Bye!!" Suigetsu's face was introduced to a wooden sandal. He dropped immediately.

"Wow, you actually won," Tsubasa remarked as he walked next to Naruto. He really was surprised.

"I got him by surprise."

"Nah, it wasn't you at all. It was his brother."

"What?"

"Anyway, Sakura, administer this drug to the prisoners, please." He tossed her a vial filled with something yellow and walked to Juugo, now snakebound.

"You're from Tenpin, aren't you?"

"How do you know?"

"Your techniques, which are the result of an enzyme your clan carry. Orochimaru used it to create the cursed seal. You guys are captured. Although it's not like you ever had a chance anyway."

"Sasuke won't come back quietly."

Tsubasa crouched down and whispered, "Do you wanna bet?"

"If I had any money I would."

"Pity."

The trip was relatively smooth. They were in Fire Country not too long after, though they stopped to take a breather. Sakura was startled when she noticed Sasuke was awake.

"Is the drug working?" she thought.

"Don't worry. It doesn't knock them out. It just neutralizes the creation of chakra," Tsubasa assured her.

"Something like that exists?"

"Yeah."

"Do you make it?"

"Of Course not. A good friend of mine does. He's a genius. Of course I can't tell you much about it. He'd get pissed."

"Why do you still think I should go to Konoha?" Sasuke interrupted.

"Why not? Besides your childish behavior, there is no reason not to. There are people who like you. You were well respected. The Uchiha clan were one of the founders of Konoha."

"If you let me go. I'll just run again."

"Sure."

"You don't believe me?"

"What do you have against Konoha?"

"They killed my family!"

Sakura whirled around.

"What?!"

Sasuke smirked. "So you don't know the truth. I suspect not. The elders are too-"

WHAM!

Sasuke's nose was bleeding a lot and the man was holding him by his hair.

"If **that's** your problem, you and I are gonna have a little chat. How does that sound?!"

"Damn you!"

WHAM!

He dragged off Sasuke, ignoring the his swearwords that indicated his pain.

Naruto and Sai returned with some water.

"Where's Sasuke?"

"Talking with uh, Tsubasa."

"About what?"

She considered it for a moment and said: "I don't know."

2 hours passed when Sasuke and the man returned.

Sasuke was unbound. And walking of his own will. His face was red. It looked like he had cried a bit.

Tsubasa's mouth was empty of emotion.

Sasuke sat with the others.

"Can I have some water?"

Sakura gave a small smile. "Sure!"

Sasuke wouldn't say what had happened, or what had been said for years to come.

He walked unbound into Konohagakure, where he was immediately taken to see the Hokage, who greeted him and informed him. That they would have to assess his behavior and abilities to make sure he wasn't lying. It would be some time before they could trust him again. But he would try his best.

Kilometers and Kilometers away:

"Were you successful, Pain?"

"No."

"What? First Sasuke, and now you."

"There was a complication."

"What?"

"The jinchuuriki is stronger than we thought."

"But that wasn't the problem"

How much do you know about our allies in the west."

"I don't see-"

"Leader."

"Yes Zetsu?"

"This has been confirmed. Falcon has been captured by Konoha."

"Madara, for the first time in a long time, was angry. Naruto could wait. Sasuke couldn't."

Konoha was a beehive of activity as everyone worked to begin the restoration of their village. It turned out that the reason Yamato had not gone on the mission was due to the fact of the usefulness of his mokuton jutsu. He had been able to create cabins for most of the civilian population, and various relief centers for the wounded. Survivors were still being treated, and one lazy figure in particular was in a hospital bed. Again.

Kakashi was reading a book. Icha Icha, surprisingly. He was just re-reading his favorite scene for the umpteenth time when a shadow clouded his vision. He looked and saw a man standing next to his mattress. Tsubasa sat on the floor next to Kakashi.

"So it was you who saved me," he remarked casually.

"Yes."

"I thought I was dead."

"Yes. Luckily, chakra exhaustion is easy to heal."

"Hm. Did you meet him?"

"Yeah."

"I taught him some things, but he's too different from me. He's more like you and his mother."

"Is he like his father?"

Kakashi looked away.

"I can't teach him that. No one here can. That was for you to teach him. That was what Minato would've wanted at least."

Tsubasa shrugged and said, "I'll do it mainly cause Kushina wanted me to help too."

"Get well soon. You have a lot of work coming to you."

Tsubasa left. Kakashi looked after him, and sighed.

"He's right, he thought, I have a lot of work to do. But meanwhile..."

He resumed reading. Not long after, he began giggling. He loved that scene.

Hiashi and Neji were in the Hyuuga compound next to a bed. Hinata was sleeping quite peacefully, giving no indication whatsoever of her horrific injury at Pain's hands.

"Did you see what happened?" Hiashi said after a while.

"I heard that she apparently tried to confront the invader to assist Uzumaki Naruto, she even used a sophisticated jyuken technique that I had no idea she knew. But I guess he was too strong."

"Uzumaki Naruto. I've heard that name before."

Neji smiled. "You have. I think you remember my first Chunin Exam."

"Aah, I remember him. How couldn't I? He withstood your best techniques. And fooled you pretty badly as well.

Footsteps were heard. Hiashi sighed. He knew who was coming.

"Neji, could you please excuse us? And have someone send some sake too."

Neji turned around. The same man who had saved Hinata was there. He curiously eyed the visitor.

"Of course," he said before departing.

"Long time no see, little Hiashi. You-know-who sends her greetings."

Hiashi paled, and Tusbasa laughed loudly. He stopped and looked at Hiashi.

"You know, I saved her only because she looks like her. And because she's your daughter."

"I am grateful."

"I can see the happiness dripping from your words."

He sighed. "She hasn't exactly fulfilled my expectations. I had hoped she would be stronger."

"You didn't fill out that many either, you know."

"Maybe I just compare her with Neji too much."

"The guy that left? Hizashi's kid?"

"Yes."

"Well you should loosen up a bit on her. She very nearly died. She'll be scared for the rest of her life."

"You're one to talk about scarring."

"I'm special. I'll visit again. I'll tell her that you said hi," he added with a grin. Hiashi looked exasperated. Tsubasa jumped out the window.

Neji appeared carrying the sake arrived just as he left.

"He left?

Hiashi shrugged. "Care for a drink?

Neji stared very carefully at his uncle's face before accepting. His face flushed with color as he indulged in the liquid.

Maybe this wasn't so bad.

Naruto was anwsering Ba-chan's summons the next morning.

What the hell would she want now?

He entered her office to find the strange dude called Tsubasa and Shizune.

"Please sit, Naruto. I have a proposition for you."

"Huh?"

Tsubasa said suddenly, "Kid, do you wanna beat that Pain guy next time you meet him?"

Naruto immediately responded,"Hell yeah!"

"He's inviting you to train with him," Tsunade said.

"More training?!"

"Isn't that what you'd like?"

"But I have sage mode already!"

"Yes, and it was enough to crush Pain, was it?" Tsubasa said with a small grin.

Naruto fell silent.

"You do want to win, right? And you don't wanna go crazy with the kyuubi anymore, right?"

Naruto looked at him.

"Can you do that?"

"You'll be stronger than Sasuke for sure."

"But how long will we be gone?"

"A year."

"Nani?!!"

The man sighed and looked at Tsunade, and she could barely make out the glint of a smile. That wasn't a good sign.

"So you want to endanger your friend like that again?"

That hit Naruto hard.

He remembered his fight and Hinata's confession. But most of all, he remembered Pain's cold, merciless eyes as he stabbed Hinata. Eyes that reveled in Naruto's pain.

Naruto looked at Tsubasa.

"Fine."

"Excellent. Pack some things you want to take, if anything survived the wreckage, and meet me in three hours. You can say your goodbyes."

As Naruto left, he turned to Tsunade.

"What about the other prisoners? Did you keep them or release them?"

"We interrogated them and left them to go their own ways. Except for the kid. We're gonna run some tests on him, and then we'll see what he wants to do. Not surprisingly, the others had no wish to stay here."

"Okay. Now, I have one more thing to ask of you," Tsubasa said. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a scroll.

"Examine that. Every part of it. And only you and someone you can trust with your life. When I come back, I'll take a look at your conclusions." He walked away.

Tsunade thought the scroll looked rather gray.

An hour and a half later:

Naruto had only salvaged a few things from his: his team picture, clothing, some magazines and other various belongings. His furniture, plants, and his cup ramen had all been obliterated. All that was left was to say goodbye. He headed to the hospital where Sasuke was being checked.

Naruto barged in to see Sauke without his shirt and Sakura listening to his heart and lungs with an instrument.

"Aha!! I found out why you really wanted to become a medical ninja, Sakura!" he exclaimed with a huge smile.

"Shut up Baka!!" she yelled as her fist contacted with Naruto's nose.

As he lay on the floor clutching his nose. Sakura finished her examinations and showed Sasuke the results.

"The only thing that's unsatisfactory is your eyesight. It has deteriorated since the last medical log. Which is about 3 years old. She closed her eyes.

"Do you have Mangekyou Sharingan?"

"How did you know-"

"We met Itachi once. Kakashi asked him if he was going blind. I surmised that the reason for that was his mangekyou shraingan. And there were those jutsu you used. There's one more thing as well. I don't know if you follow the doctor's orders, but I forbid you from using that ability. It slowly detiorates your vision and reflexes.

Sasuke felt crushed. His best weapon, his brother's last gift was poisoning him. That was a bummer.

"Oh well. Don't worry Sasuke, you'll find out something, somehow. Actually I came to say goodbye," Naruto said suddenly.

Sakura turned around. "What?!"

"Ba-chan wants me to learn something with that meanie."

"Really? Sound fun," Sasuke said sourly. He didn't like the man all that much. But maybe he would forgive him in a few days.

"He's mean! But at least I'll get stronger. I'll be better than both of you before you know it!"

"Don't count on it, dobe."

After a last goodbye, he left the room and made his way to the reception and the exit. He saw two faces walk in his direction.

"Neji! Hinata! What are you doing here?"

Neji sighed. "Hinata needs a checkup, due to her.. injury."

"Oh." That put Naruto down a bit.

Hinata noticed, and said, "Neji, you can go home now. You really don't need to take me the whole way.

"She wants to talk with Naruto," Neji thought. "I'll be back in an hour."

"Hinata," Naruto began, he was scratching the back of his head out of nervousness. He didn't know how to talk to girls that well.

"I'm.. sorry. You nearly died because I wasn't good enough. I promise you, never again willl I let you risk yourself like that!"

Hinata, who reddened as he spoke said, "There's no need to apologize N-Naruto-kun. I went of my own free will. It was my own fault that I couldn't help you..."

But I don't regret what I did in the least.

"We-well .. what, it's almost time for me to go!! I'm gonna leave the village for a while, so I won't be seeing you at all..."

Good luck Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a small smile. Her fingers had resumed their usual habits. She was scared that she would faint during this encounter.

"ByeBye!" he shouted, causing many people to glare at him. Either because of his loud voice or other reasons not unkown.

But Hinata was too busy thinking about how cute he looked when he was nervous. Maybe she had switched places with him. Maybe-

"So, you like him. Lucky him I should say."

"Eep!" she cried out involuntarily as she

turned around to see someone vaguely familiar. Where had she seen him?

"Well, you did get his attention with that life-wasting stunt. Too dramatic for my taste. Anyways, if you want a tip, here's one: people like Naruto admire strength in others. Just be tough. Physically and mentally. Like what you did against Pain. Of course, if you confessed to him, that would have really helped him along."

Hinata was very crimson.

"But I lost."

"Well, no Hyuuga, could beat him, because he's the worst match possible for you guys. That jyuken thing you guys do. There's so little footwork in it. You guys should put some in. And some long range jutsu. Try it out," he finished.

"See ya."

He disappeared.

"You're late!" Naruto yelled as he arrived.

"I said 3 hours. Dumbass. By the way, from now on, you will call me sensei. Not meanie. I will forgive if your tongue slips and you call me Kami. Ok?" Tsubasa said with a smile.

"Where are you going to take him?" asked Tsunade.

"Here and there. He should know his origins, even if vaguely," Tsubasa said quietly.

Tsunade turned to Naruto.

"Train hard Naruto,"

"Bye ba-chan!"

"Shut up you fool!"

A day later:

"Hey, where are you taking me?"

"Oh, you'll know. When we get there."

"Where, there's only a desert around here!"

Oho, you're not as stupid as you look or sound! That's a start."

"Hey!"

"You mean "Hey, Sensei.

"So before we start, I'll introduce myself. Visually." Tsubasa began to take off his hat.

Naruto was curious. He watched slowly. And his mouth dropped.

"Nani?! You use the same thing as Ba-chan!"

WHAM.

"Shut it, you idiot," replied a very young man. He looked like he was in his twenties. Short and messy black hair covered his forehead. His skin had a bit of a tan. He was very handsome. Even the diagonal scar on his left eye and one that stretched from his chin to his temple did nothing to harm his face's appeal. On his mouth, there was a pair of fang tattoos. When he smiled, they looked very real. Add to that a big ring that pierced his left ear, and tiny bells jingled dangled from it. But they made no sound at all, even when he moved his head. But his eyes were his strangest aspect. No matter the expression, they always looked cold and distant. The light in their gray pupils were the only indication of age.

"It's not a jutsu. Dumb ass. I'm naturally beautiful," he said with a fanged smile. His eyes scared Naruto a bit. He could swear that when he looked into them, his breathing became labored. Then he was awoken from the feeling when Tsubasa put his rain hat back on.

"Enough. Now I'm serious. I want to know what you're made of. So we're having a little test. We're gonna play some tag."

"Tag?"

"Yes you idiot. Tag. In the desert."

"For how long?"

"I don't know. But first, give me your things."

He took out a scroll, opened it, and sealed everything in it.

"Good. Now, you're it!"

And he ran into the desert.

"Let's see how long you last. The record is a day..." Tsubasa thought. He looked ahead. He could see a huge sandstorm making its way towards them. This would be fun... for him.

Outside the windows lay a clouded sky. A man and a woman were in the cold, metallic room. The man was on top of a strange 4-legged mechanism.

Around him were corpses, all dressed in the same clothes.

The cables in his back detached, the mechanism holding his arms was loosened, and he climbed down. He had difficulty moving, it seemed. The woman came forward, concern etched on her face. She held out a pill and a glass of water. The man swallowed the pill and drank the glass.

"Thanks." The woman nodded. Now she handed him a coat with red clouds. The same one she wore. He put it on.

There was a knock. Without waiting for an an answer, the door opened. A tall young man with pink skin, a narrow face that was adorned with a crooked nose and crowned by a mane of blond hair which flowed freely past his shoulders. He was wearing a beautiful blue kimono adorned with clouds, and at his belt was a green katana with an emerald adorned hilt. He looked at the state of his visitors and opened his mouth.

He had a soft voice. "Everything worked fine?"

The dark haired man responded.

"In regards to the machine, yes. In terms of our task, not quite. There were some complications. One that might be of concern to both of us as allies."

"What?"

I saw someone I felt certain I had seen before. An enemy. Someone I thought was dead.

"Tell me more. I'll see what I can do to help."

Outside, the clouds were darkening. And so was the future.


	2. Bells Again

One Year Later:

Naruto sat on top of Konoha'shuge wall. It had been reinforced with numerous jutsus and seals following the attack. Konoha was still under heavy repairs, although the outer areas not directly hit by the massive Shinra Tensei were almost back to normal. The village was doing well, it seemed.

_"First I have to see ba-chan. Then I'm buying as much ramen as possible!" _he thought with delight._"Tsubasa-baka didn't let me have any..._

He jumped down and started walking slowly. The sun was just beginning to dip behind the mountains, and the shadows were already growing. The Hokage would be finishing up for the day.

Some of the street lights were turining on when he reached the reformed Hokage tower. The chunin on duty recognized him and let him enter.

_"I wonder if I'll face someone again, like last time. That would be fun. Maybe Kakashi-sensei?" _Narutothought with much excitement as he walked through the corridors.

He knocked on Tsunade's door and waited for answer.

"Come in!" said a grumpy voice from the other side.

He entered the room. The office hadn't changed, and neither had she. There was a mountain of paperwork on top of her desk. Tsunade's face lit up at the sight of him.

"Oh! You've grown quite a bit, Naruto!" she exclaimed happily as she reached for something in her desk. A bottle of sake.

"Ba-chan, you shouldn't drink on duty!" Naruto pointed out.

"Shut up. I'm your boss, so you can't tell me what to do!" Tsunade shouted at him. She looked around for a second.

"Where's the other idiot?" Tsunade asked. Shizune wasn't in the room, so she took a swig of the alcohol before putting it back. She took a closer look at Naruto. He was a taller and had grown out of his orange jacket. He had replaced it witha black one, but he still kept his orange pants, although they looked a little small. He wore no headband, and the spikes of his hair were longer. Not as long as Minato's, but long.

"You mean Tsubasa? He sent me back on my own," Naruto replied.

"From where?" Tsunade asked, her eyes narrowing.

Naruto screwed up his face in concentration. Tsunade grabbed the bottle and took another sip.

"Somewhere west. He never told me the name of the place," Naruto said.

Tsunade choked on her drink.

"He sent you alone?! Is he crazy? Doesn't he know that it's dangerous for you to go out alone? And where is he anyway?" she yelled. Naruto rubbed his ears before answering.

"He said something about a family reunion," Naruto answered.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. _"I thought his family was all dead. His in-laws too..."_ she wondered.

"Ba-chan, Tsubasa-baka told me to give these to you," Naruto said as he reached into his pack and took out a scroll. He handed it to Tsunade.

Tsunade unrolled the scroll and made a hand sign.

POOF!

Over a dozen files appeared, each one stuffed to the limit with papers. The pile was bigger than the rest of her paperwork.

"Great. More work,"Tsunade remarked dryly.

Naruto was looking out the windows. He looked at the construction sites for a moment before he turned away from the window.

"Neh, Ba-chan, where's my team?" Naruto asked.

"They should be here soon," she answered looking at a clock. "I sent them out in the morning. If all went well, as it probably did, they'll be here before the sun sets.

"Did you learn anything useful?" she said changing the subject.

"Naruto immediately flashed a grin.

"Of course! I think I could beat you now!" he said proudly.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, baka!" she exclaimed. "Tomorrow we'll examine your abilities to see exactly how good you are. You'd better be good, you know. All of your friends are either jounin or special jounin now. And you're still just a genin!"

"I'm probably better than most of them!" said Naruto. His words were heavy with indignation at being the lowest ranked person of his class.

"You haven't changed at all, it seems," Tsunade remarked, flipping through a folder. She picked up her bottle again.

Someone knocked on the door. Without waiting for an answer, it burst open. Tsunade immediately stashed the sake bottle deep in her desk.

"Naruto?!" exclaimed a pink headed girl.

"Sakura!" he said with a smile. Sakura hadn't changed much. She now had a vest over her outfit. She had grown, but was still shorter than Naruto.

Sakura stuck her head back in the hall.

"Hurry up you two! Naruto's back!" she shouted.

"Great. Let me grab some earplugs," someone mumbled.

"I heard that Teme!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke entered the room. He wore the standard uniform, and there was the Uchiha symbol on the back of his vest. There was a sword on his back.

"So?" Sasuke said casually.

"Grrr," Naruto growled. Sasuke was as irritating as ever.

Sai entered last. He wore the standard uniform, but his pants and shirt were black.

"Hello Naruto," he said with a smile. It wasn't a fake one.

Naruto grinned in return.

_"He's taller than all of us, now. He's not that bad-looking either. But he's still loud,"_Sakura thought.

"Everything went well, I take it?" Tsunade interrupted.

"Hai," said Sakura. She produced a scroll from a pouch and handed it over to Tsunade.

Tsunade opened it and looked at it briefly before setting it down. She would have to send a team soon.

"Naruto, come by my office tomorrow morning. I'll tell you where to go. In the meantime, get some dinner and some sleep. You look tired," Tsunade said.

"Okay!" Naruto said before he and his teammates left. When the door closed, she began to rummage through one of the files. This one had detailed information on supply routes to Earth and Rain. Useful if there was open war.

_"Something serious must be going on. That's the only possible explanation. And since when does he have a family?" _thought Tsunade. She reached for her sake bottle again. It was quite refreshing.

The door opened again, and Shizune walked in carrying a load of books.

"Aha!! I finally caught you!" Shizune exclaimed.

_"Damn it!" _Tsunade thought as Shizune laid down her books and snatched the bottle away.

---

Naruto wolfed down bowl after bowl of ramen at the new Ichiraku Ramen stand. His teammates could only stare as he reached his seventeenth bowl.

"Naruto, you know that eating this much ramen isn't exactly the healthiest thing in the world," Sakura said in a stern voice.

"I didn't have any ramen for a whole year. Tsubasa-baka said that I should have healthier habits," Naruto said as Ayame laid down bowl number eighteen.

"He's right, you know," Sasuke said. Sai was quietly reading a book. He hadn't eaten anything.

Naruto shrugged and consumed another bowl.

"Where are you going to live, Naruto?" Sakura inquired.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head.

"I was thinking of staying with one of you for now," Naruto said.

_"Always help a friend in need,"_thought Sai.

"Do you want to stay at my place?" Sai said suddenly.

Sasuke spared Naruto the trouble of turning him down.

"It's fine Sai. I have a spare bedroom," Sasuke remarked. He watched as Naruto ate his twentyfirst bowl.

"I have to go now," Sakura said while standing up.

"I'm too tired from today's mission. I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said.

After Sakura had disappeared, Sasuke turned to Naruto. He had finished gulping down his twentythird bowl.

"Come on Naruto. Pay up so we can go home already," Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto opened Gama-chan and took out some bills. He payed a very happy Teuchi, and then tried to get up from his seat with his overfull stomach.

"I will be going now," Sai said with a smile. He jumped off.

Sasuke began walking without waiting for Naruto.

Narutofollowed him, doing his best to keep up with his stuffed belly.

They reached a new building after about five minutes. Sasuke entered it.

Sasuke's apartment was comfortable, with a bit more space then he needed. It was very tidy and clean.

"Here's your room. Don't make a mess, or I'll kick you out," Sasuke threatened. He hadn't even reached his room yet when he heard a huge puff, and he saw some smoke leaking out from his spare bedroom.

"Baka, what have you done now?" Sasuke asked when he entered the room.

"What does it look like? I'm unpacking," came Naruto's reply.

As the smoke cleared, Sasuke saw that Naruto was telling the truth. He could now see numerous scrolls filled with weapons and jutsus, some articles of clothing, the Team 7 photograph, a Konoha headband, a necklace with a strange green crystal, and to his very great surprise, books.

"You know how to read?" Sasuke asked.

"Of course I do!" Naruto shouted indignantly.

Sasuke ignored him and glanced at the books. He saw a stack of different colored books. The title caught his interest.

"Is that Icha-Icha?" Sasuke asked pointing to the stack. He always wondered what those book were like. He wasn't eighteen yet, so he couldn't buy them.

"So? What about it?" Naruto said.

"I didn't know you were into women," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Damn you," growled Naruto before kicking Sasuke out and closing the door and collapsing in bed.

Sasuke gave a chuckle before going to bed. Tomorrow could be a rough day. He would need some rest.

---

Naruto woke up the next morning wishing he could sleep for a few more hours. He looked at the clock. It was ten o'clock.

"Damn, I overslept. I was supposed to see Ba-chan. She'll get mad at me for sure," he thought while quickly putting on his clothes. He took an apple on his way out. Sasuke had already left.

He sped through the rooftops towards the Hokage tower as fast as he could. These days, it was pretty fast.

He entered the building and met Shizune at the entrance.

"Good morning," she said with a yawn. She looked very tired.

"Morning," Naruto responded hurriedly. He sped past her and into the building.

"Naruto! Wait a second!" Shizune shouted.

"Ba-chan's expecting me!" he shouted back before disappearing into the corridors.

_"But she's busy..."_thought Shizune. _"I feel like taking a nap."_

Naruto burst into Tsunade's office without knocking.

"Sorry I'm late ba-cha-" he began to explain as the words died from his thoughts. There were three people in her office already. He had no clue who they were. They were rather imposing figures. Behind them, he could see Tsunade with steam coming out of her ears and murder in her eyes.

"Shit!" was the one thought that repeated throughout Naruto's brain.

"Oh, well, uh, sorry," he said with an embarrassed grin.

"It's fine," said a man in his sixties in a black kimono. He had a beard that flowed over his chest, and his hair was graying at the ends. His features were beginning to age, and one of his eyebrows was painted. He leaned on a cane. But looking closely, Naruto could see that there was a blade concealed within. He had weird eyes. They were black and white.

The tall man next to him gave a smile, revealing pointed teeth. He was wearing a black mesh undershirt and a leather vest. Some tattoos covered his bare arms, and one of a black tiger decorated his left cheek. He seemed to be in his thirties and he had a rather bestial appearance due to his imposing figure and shaggy brown hair. His eyes were a strange hue of yellow.

"Being polite would've spared you the embarrassment in the first place," scoffed the last person. She was quite beautiful, and she wasn't afraid of showing it. She wore a mini skirt and a grey jacket. There was a purple line that started at the edge of her green hair, went over face and neck, and appeared again on her left ankle. On her back was a weapon wrapped in bandages. It might have been a spear, except for the fact that it fattened considerably at both ends.

"You're one to talk," the tall man said.

"Don't start," the older man said softly.

"I apologize for our interruption," Tsunade said hastily, shooting a venomous glance at Naruto.

"Go to training ground twelve, where you will receive further instructions. You're dismissed," Tsunade ordered.

Naruto nodded, mumbled another apology, and left quickly.

---

He arrived at the training ground fifteen minutes later. Because there was no one around, he sat down and waited there for about an hour and a half.

Someone tapped his shoulder after what seemed like an eternity. Naruto looked around. His old sensei was late yet again.

"You're late, Kakashi-sensei," he said in a sleepy voice.

"Sorry. You see there was this old lady-" Kakashi began.

"And she was carrying a lot pf groceries so you decided to help her. I've heard that one before," said Naruto as he got up.

"Really? It's nice to see you again," Kakashi said. He looked around and stuffed a hand into his pouch and withdrew a small book.

"What am I supposed to do here? Watch you read adult books?" Naruto asked.

"We were asked to review your abilities," Kakashi said. He was reading a favorite scene of his.

"Is there gonna be another bell test?" Naruto said with a grimace.

"Maybe," Kakashi stated.

"This is gonna be so easy!" Naruto exclaimed. His sleepiness disappeared at the chance to show off his prowess.

"Idiot. He said "We" will examine your abilities," said a voice from within the trees.

Sasuke walked out, followed by Neji. Neji wore his Hyuuga clothing.

"Naruto," Neji said simply, nodding his head.

Naruto grinned in return. Kakashi looked at them and sighed. "You're late," Kakashi said.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Don't look at me like that. You're never on time," he retorted.

Kakashi shrugged. He stuffed his book back in his pack, and withdrew eight bells. He handed a pair to each.

"The rules are simple. Naruto has to try and take our bells, and we have to take his. Fight like you're in a real battle. The time limit will be two hours," Kakashi explained.

He waited a moment.

"Begin!" he shouted

Naruto flew back and made his signature jutsu. Out puffed a single clone.

"Henge!" the clone shouted. It transformed into a massive shuriken. The original threw it. As it spun towards the combatants, Naruto made another hand sign.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he exclaimed. The one shuriken multiplied into twenty.

"Easy," thought Kakashi, as he jumped over the projectiles with ease. He looked down. An explosive tag was on each shuriken.

"Shit!"

Shuriken began to burst like popcorn, and the cacophony hurt Kakashi's ears.

Naruto watched with satisfaction, which evaporated immediately when the smoke cleared. There was only a log with some chunks of it missing. He frowned, took out a smoke bomb, and threw it at the ground.

Kakashi watched from a tree branch.

"He has some tricks up his sleeve, but as long as we don't let him enter sage mode, we can take him," he thought. There was a rustle in the branches above him. Then there was a screeching noise that grew louder and louder...

"Rasengan!" cried Naruto as he burst from the branches. Kakashi jumped off, preparing himself to fight any clones. There were none.

Naruto frowned as the upper part of the tree toppled down.

"Maybe I made to much noise," he decided. There was a soft thump behind him. He fell off his branch. As he landed, he could see Neji above him, the veins near his eyes bulging.

Neji jumped down and began to assail Naruto with jyuken strikes. To Neji's surprise, Naruto evaded very well.

_"Tch! If I'm hit by one of those, I'll definitely lose!"_Naruto thought. Then Neji thrust his palm towards Naruto's face. Naruto swerved his head to the right, completely dodging it. It also left Neji wide open.

_"Excellent,"_Neji thought with satisfaction.

"You're mine now!" Naruto shouted with glee. Two figures burst from the treetops.

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" both voices cried simultaneously. Two massive balls of fire incinerated the area around Naruto and Neji, blackening everything.

When the smoke cleared, Naruto was gone. There was a circular hole around Neji, the result of his Kaiten.

"He and three other clones are circling us," Neji said before someone asked him.

"As long as he's moving, there's nothing to worry about. He can't use sage mode," Kakashi said calmly.

Neji nodded. His eyes widened suddenly.

"Jump!" he shouted. They all jumped as high as they could manage. The trees around the clearing were sinking into the ground, and the clearing below them was now mud. They had barely escaped. The real problem was that there was nowhere to land. When they touched the ground, they immediately were absorbed by it. They sank to their necks in the mud. Naruto appeared before them, grinning very widely.

"I win," he said, walking towards Kakashi to take his bells. His hand reached through the mud and grabbed both of Kakashi's bells. Kakashi said nothing.

"That was pretty cool, wasn't it?" Naruto asked. "Tsubasa said that was something Jiraiya could do. "Yumi Numa". That's its name."

"Not bad at all," Kakashi said, nodding his head. Naruto moved on to Sasuke

Just when Naruto stuck his hand into the mud to take Sasuke's bells, Sasuke made his move.

"Chidori Nagashi!" he exclaimed. Naruto flew back from the electricity. The mud around Sasuke began to turn into dust. He jumped out of the hole and landed on the mud. He didn't sink. At the same time, Neji jumped out as well. He walked over to Kakashi and pulled him out.

"How?" asked Naruto.

"Simple. This is obviously an earth technique. Earth is weak against lightning," Kakashi responded simply. He stood next to Sasuke so he didn't waste any chakra staying on top of the mud.

"When I saw the ground turn to mud, I just released chakra from all over my body. Except I didn't do the spinning motion of Kaiten. This way, your technique would envelop me, but I would be able to slip out at my leisure," Nejiexplained. He was eyeing his mud drenched clothing with distaste. They had been washed that morning.

Sasuke sighed. He reached for his blade. Wordlessly, he charged Naruto.

_"Shit, he's fast!"_thought Naruto. Sasuke swung his blade horizontally. Naruto bended backwards, and the blade passed an inch over his nose. Sasuke brought his blade down, and Naruto pushed off the mud. While in the air, he made a hand sign, and when he landed, there where four Narutos. They charged Sasuke from different directions.

Sasuke slashed through one. Another one burst into smoke when Neji nailed it from behind. Kakashi appeared and slashed out another Naruto's throat. The last one threw a punch at Sasuke's jaw. Sasuke blocked him with the flat of his sword, and Neji and Kakashi grabbed him. Sasuke took the bells. Neji watched silently. Then he palmed the back of Naruto's head. The bells and the clone burst into smoke.

"Another clone," Neji remarked.

"How did you know?" Kakashi asked.

Before Neji could answered, they were assailed by kunai from all sides. They all evaded easily. Except for Kakashi, who began to sink again the second he landed. Luckily, Sasuke was there to pull him out.

"Why aren't you getting out yourself?" Sasuke asked. He was clearly irked at having to help his sensei every second.

"Because it's easier to stay next to you then waste chakra," Kakashi replied.

_"That's just an excuse for being lazy,"_Sasuke thought.

There was a big whirling noise from a short distance away and they saw some clones fly away. Neji stopped spinning. They could see one Naruto left. He was smiling.

"What's so amusing about the situation you're in right now?" Neji asked.

"What's so funny? I'll let you in on the joke," Naruto answered. He began to mold a lot of chakra.

"You guys are all lined up!" he yelled. Nejiwatched as he opened his mouthwide. Inside his mouth there was an orange glow. Neji's eyes widened.

_"That's a lot of chakra. If that hits us, we're in trouble!"_he thought. "Kakashi! Sasuke! Get out of there!"

There was a huge beam of an orange substance. Once in a while, you would catch a bit of blue. But none of them payed attention to that. They were more concerned about there lives. After about six seconds, the jutsu stopped. Where there had been mud, there was nothing. Just dry dirt. Naruto's jutsu had incinerated everything in its path.

Naruto scowled. "I missed," he thought. He began to walk forward. Now he would have to search for them.

"I should have made some shadow clones to gather sage chakra. This would be already over," he thought. He heard something form his left. He immediately dropped to the ground, and Sasuke's sword cut through the air above him. Kakashi appeared behind him, a kunai in his hand. There was no chance of Naruto dodging.

"Got you," Kakashi said before he slashed at Naruto's bells.

The sound of metal hitting metal resounded through Kakashi's ears. When he had been talking, Naruto had produced a kunai in his sleeve and blocked Kakashi with ease. But that wasn't what caught Kakashi's attention. The kunai had a seal on the handle, and it had a very strange blade. He was mesmerized by the kunai when Naruto's leg tried to sweep Kakashi's feet from under him. At the same time, Sasuke swung his blade in an attempt to catch Naruto's unprotected side. Kakashi flipped backwards, avoiding Naruto's leg, and out of Naruto's right sleeve came another kunai to stop Sasuke. Naruto's other arm snapped out at Sasuke's other arm. Sasuke jumped back.

Naruto looked around. One one side were Kakashi and Sasuke, and on the other was Neji. Taking them all on wasn't easy without sage chakra. As he couldn't fight to kill, his options were limited. He looked up. The sun had changed position. How much time had passed? Didn't matter, he decided.

_"Just focus on your goal,"_ a voice whispered in his head. He made a hand sign. The others stood on their toes in preparation for his attack.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A dozen clones appeared. Two clones engaged each person, and the other seven Narutos disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The clones were creative, using rasengan and some good taijutsu, but nothing the group of jounin couldn't handle. They were quickly dispatched.

"We're surrounded," Neji said calmly.

"That's not good," Sasuke said. He was wondering where to run when seven shadows appeared around them.

"Fuuton: Renkuudan!" they shouted at the same time.

"Shit!" Kakashi exclaimed. Seven balls of wind collided with each other in the middle of the trio. The shock produced a massive explosion of wind. The earth around the area was blown apart. When the wind finally stopped, there was a huge crater. The seven clones landed. One bent down and picked up a piece of a log.

"There weren't any trees around here. This is a substitution jutsu," one said thoughtfully.

"Damn. Now we have to find them," another one said.

"Not really, there objective is to come to us. They have to take the bells, remember?" another one said.

One clone whispered something inaudible to its fellows, and four clones disappeared into the forest around the clearing created by Naruto's jutsu.

"What do we do?" Neji asked. The three jounin were on top of a tree plotting their next move.

Kakashi thought a bit. For all his skill, Naruto still had some flaws. One being his impatience.

"I have a plan," he stated simply. He whispered it to the others.

"Isn't that risky?" Sasuke asked. "We still don't know his full abilities. He could surprise us."

"Naruto has better stamina then any of us. If this fight is to last two hours, he will win," Kakashi stated.

"Besides, he continued, We haven't shown our full abilities either."

The clones were searching the forest floor when two of them were hit by multiple kunai. The other two jumped up where they were quickly dispatched by unseen figures in the trees. In the clearing, the other Narutos received the memories.

"Spread out so we don't all fall in their traps. And two of us should go on the treetops, for extra vision," one Naruto commanded.

"Let's go!" another cried.

"Hey! I'm the boss here!" the first clone cried.

"Shut up!" another one roared. He and some of the clones took off. Still grumbling at each other, the last two clone followed them.

"He's coming," Neji announced. "The clones are spread out, and there are two in the trees. Have you guys finished yet?"

"We're done," Kakashi announced. Sasuke disappeared, leaving only Kakashi on the forest floor.

"Found him!" shouted a clone.

"Wait! It's only Kakashi-sensei. It could be a trap," one said.

"Then spring it!" one shouted before jumping at Kakashi. It drew out a kunai and stabbed. Kakashi dodged and punched it. The clone hit a tree and burst into smoke.

"Surround him!" one Naruto ordered. The clones made a circle around him.

"You think now," Kakashi said. "The Naruto I knew would have rushed me immediately."

"The Naruto you knew couldn't have kicked your ass as easily as this one!" shouted a clone with glee. They all prepared to charge him.

"Actually, that Naruto's strategy would've worked better," Kakashi said quietly.

"Huh?" one of the Narutos said.

Kakashi made a seal.

"Kai!" he exclaimed.

BOOM!

The trees morphed into ashes as the exploding tags went off. The clones burst into smoke as well.

"Success," said Kakashi. One Naruto lay on the floor. He was clutching his arm, and was slightly bleeding at the mouth. Kakashi approached him. He reached down and took his bells.

"We win," he said simply. The Naruto on the floor smiled. He made a seal.

"You're just a clone!" Kakashi exclaimed.

"Too late!" the clone said.

It exploded. It was bigger than an explosive tag.

When the smoke cleared, there was nothing.

"What happened?" wondered the real Naruto. He was behind a tree, observing his shadow clone's work. He was interrupted from his thoughts by memories that weren't his own. The clones that were among the treetops had been dispelled. Sword slashes. So Sasuke was above him. But where were the other two?

"Hakke: Rokujyu Yonshou!" a voice said.

Neji's palm came through the tree trunk and tapped Naruto's shoulder. Twice.

"Nishou!" Neji appeared in front of Naruto. Various curses were circling through Naruto's head; at the pain and at his carelessness.

"Yonshou!"

"Hachishou!"

"Jyuurokushou!"

"Sanjyunishou!"

"Rokujyuyonshou!" Neji finished. Naruto fell to the ground, temporarily numbed from Neji's strike.

I can't use my chakra," Naruto thought. "But I can still use Kyuubi's chakra!"

Cold metal touched his throat. He shivered at the loss of heat.

"No more tricks," Sasuke said. Kakashi appeared and took Naruto's bells.

"No one near us. He's the real one. You lose," Nejisaid with satisfaction. He then scowled as he eyed his dirty clothing. Hopefully Hiashi wouldn't see him in this state.

"You did pretty well," Kakashi told Naruto. Naruto scowled at his words. He crossed his arms and looked away.

"I lost," he said.

"I think we both know that winning wasn't the point to the exercise," Kakashi said.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi sighed. He had overestimated Naruto's brain. "The point of the exercise was to put you in a difficult situation which required you to use your best abilities. True enough, you showed some pretty good ninjutsu and taijutsu. Also, you showed that you had the capacity to think before acting. And you didn't use sage chakra at all," he explained.

_"Although I don't think sage chakra was the only thing you were holding back,"_he thought while eyeing Naruto's strange kunai.

Neji looked up. "You can come out now," he said.

"That wasn't shabby at all," a girl said. Lee and Tentendropped down next to the group. Lee looked exactly the same with his weird eyebrows and his horrible suit. Tenten had a vest on, evidence of her promotion. Lee gave one of his blinding smiles and a thumbs-up to Naruto. Tenten covered her eyes.

"Gejimayu! Tenten! You were watching?"Naruto asked. Sasuke sighed.

"Sai and Sakura were watching too. They all wanted to see how good you really were. In other words, how much you sucked," Sasukesaid with a smirk.

"Teme! Wait till I fight you one on one! I'll kick your ass!" Naruto challenged in a loud voice.

"Naruto! We can hear you perfectly without you screaming!" Sakura exclaimed, slapping Naruto at the same time. Sailooked on with a blank expression. He still had trouble understanding Sakura's emotions.

Neji sighed. "I'm going home. I feel so dirty," he said before leaving.

Tenten snickered. "You smell almost as nice as Gai-sensei after his workout," she remarked as Neji left.

"Truly, Neji-san, the smell of youth on you is intoxicating!" Lee added. Kakashi groaned.

"I'll go home as well. I look worse than Naruto," Sasuke remarked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto pouted.

"Simple. You're ugly," Sasuke said simply following Neji.

"Naruto, you smell like Akamaru! You should go too!" Sakura urged.

"Take a bath with Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"You smell as bad as he does!" Sakura shouted before kicking Naruto. He ran off after Sasuke.

"So, what do you guys think? Kakashi asked suddenly after a moment.

"Definitely our level," Sakura said.

"The flames of youth burn brightly in him!" shouted Lee.

"He didn't use sage chakra, but he's good. And those were some strange jutsu he used," Sai added.

"He's kind of hot, isn't he?" Tenten remarked playfully. Sakura nodded in agreement. Kakashi put a hand to his forehead.

"I agree with most of your opinions. Thank you for your cooperation. If I need your help, I'll call you," Kakashi said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Sakura, I have a question," Sai said.

"What?" Sakura answered.

"If you think Naruto is... handsome, does that mean you don't like Sas-" Sai flew into a tree.

"Whatever," Sakura grumbled before walking away. Lee appeared to have some tears in his eyes. Tenten noticed.

"Give up, Lee. Your eyebrows alone are enough to scare any woman away," Tenten said. Her advice didn't help Lee much.

---

"Sasuke, why didn't you use your sharingan?" Naruto asked. He was still a bit wet from his bath. Sasuke, who was reading Icha Icha Tactics, waited a bit before responding. "Sakura said that it affects my vision and my coordination. Because I can only use the special sharingan, I can't use it at all," he replied sulkily.

Even Naruto could feel the bitterness in his voice.

"But I've been training myself to fight without it," Sasuke said.

Naruto remembered something. "I forgot to give you something!" he exclaimed.

"Huh?" Sasuke said.

"Tsubasa-baka told me to give a scroll to you. He said I would need to help you with it. I'll go find it after our late lunch," Naruto explained.

"Do you know what it is?" Sasuke asked. He was doing his best to hide his excitement.

"No," Naruto responded. "Hurry up Sasuke. I wanna have a late lunch at Ichiraku's!"

"Is that all you think about?" Sasuke said before getting off the couch to make himself a decent lunch.

---

Neji arrived at the Hyuuga compound. He used Byakugan and checked to see where his uncle was. He would change and grab some leftovers in the kitchen without his uncle ever seeing or smelling him in his present state. Luckily, Hiashi was reading something in his study.

_"Yes!"_ he thought before rushing towards his room. He was rushing across the courtyard where he trained when someone called him.

"Ni-san, why are you in such a hurry?"

He turned to his right. Hinata was sitting against a wall. She looked like she was holding back laughter. Presumably at his appearance.

"Hinata-san, are waiting to spar with me?" Neji asked. Hinata nodded.

"If you want you can change," she said with a giggle. Neji thought it over. It would be more prudent to wash and change, but it seemed rather wasteful, as he would sweat a lot if he fought Hinata, and he would have to wash and change **again**.

"It's fine," Neji said. He walked to the middle of the yard. Hinata got up and took a position opposite him. Both of them took their stances and charged each other. Some of the branch house children watched the Hyuuga heiress and genius spar in awe. Neji was very fast, was as good as Hiashi himself in the traditional style of the gentle fist. Hinata on the other hand, fought with her own style, one that suited her flexibility and weight. They were quite evenly matched. But Neji was still tired, and Hinata had the upper hand. She slowly began pushing him back, pressing her advantage.

"At this rate I'll lose," thought Neji. Hinata smiled, victory was already nearing her grasp. Neji was pretty tired today.

_"I still have one weapon,"_Neji thought grimly.

His palm lashed out. Hinata caught it and sent her own hand towards his face.

"Naruto's back," Neji said simply.

"What?" Hinata said, hesitating for an instant. It was all Neji needed. He broke his hand out of her grip and touched her neck. In a real match, Hinata would be in serious trouble. Neji stepped back, doing his best to keep a straight face. Who knew his tactics would have worked so well?

Hinata was rather red. "Neji-san, that was mean," she said.

"A ninja should look underneath the underneath, Hinata-san," he answered. He was beginning to laugh.

"Neji, where have you been?" Hiashi said as he came out of a building. He eyed Neji's clothes distastefully and wrinkled his nose.

"Neji, please take a shower. It would be upsetting to have to withstand your lack of hygiene for the rest of the day," Hiashi said commandingly.

Hinata looked down and did her best to keep a straight face. Her heart was beating hard. Naruto had finally come back. She tried not to go purple as she remembered her dramatic confession. Maybe he woul-

"Hinata, when is your next mission?" her father asked.

"Huh? Oh, I have the day off tomorrow," she answered.

"Fine. In the meantime, I would appreciate it if you helped Hanabi with her Kaiten," he said before turning away and leaving the compound.

_"At least he acknowledges me now,"_thought Hinata. She went off in search of her sister, thinking of her crush the whole way.

----

"I see," Tsunade said. Kakashi stood before her in her office.

"Are you sure of your evaluation? I'm breaking quite a few rules here," Tsunade said.

Kakashi nodded. "He stood up fairly well against Sasuke, Neji and me without using sage chakra or the power of the Kyuubi."

She took out a file. Naruto's file in fact. She signed something inside.

"He has his promotion. Now, there's an S-rank mission that I think requires someone of your caliber," Tsunade said with a smile.

Kakashi groaned. Sometimes being famous was quite a pain.

---

"Here it is!" exclaimed Naruto. He pulled a scroll out of his pack in Sasuke's apartment. He made a seal and unrolled it.

Sasuke took a look at it.

"It looks like a seal," Sasuke remarked.

"It says that it will seal your brother's power," Naruto said. He was confused by that.

"Continue," Sasuke demanded.

"Fine. According to this, you will be able to use your normal sharingan, and you will have access to your brother's whenever you want. But it says that if you value your eyes, you should only use the special sharingan in life-threatening situations," Naruto finished.

"I'll go find Kakashi," Sasuke said. He got up and was reaching for the scroll when Naruto interrupted.

"Why would you go find Kakashi when I can apply the seal now?" Naruto said with a grin.

"Maybe because I feel very uneasy with the idea of you and your clumsy chakra control trying to seal my eyes," Sasuke said.

Naruto scowled. "This seal is simple. Only the written formula is complex. I can write as well. So, take off your shirt," Naruto commanded.

"If something goes wrong, I'll kill you," Sasuke threatened.

"Shut up," Naruto said. He bit his thumb and began to write kanji on Sasuke's back. Sasuke squirmed a bit at the sensation. After about five minutes, Naruto stopped and made some hand signs.

"Seal!" he exclaimed. The kanji began to move in a circle on Sasuke's back. They moved faster and faster until they began to condense into a small circle. Soon, there was only a single word on Sasuke's back: Seal. There was a burning stench.

"Done," Naruto announced. He tensed as Sasuke looked at him, his sharingan active. Suddenly he was enveloped in a genjutsu. He was about to break out of it when the attack seized. Sasuke's eyes returned to their normal color.

"Thanks," he said simply.

"You can buy me Ichiraku's tonight," Narutosaid with delight.

"Again? That's unhealthy. Pass me an Icha Icha," Sasuke said lazily.

"What? Sakura doesn't satisfy your wandering eyes?" Naruto teased. His grin faded at the look of murder on Sasuke's face. His eyes turned red.

"Shit!" Naruto shouted before fleeing for his life.

---

Kakashi eyed his two students. One had a black eye and a rather nasty bruise on his left cheek. They were sitting at the ramen stand. Again.

"What happened exactly?" he asked.

"Well, Sasuke couldn't bear to hear- Oww!!" Naruto yelped. Sasuke had smacked the back of his head.

"Naruto fell of the roof," Sasuke said simply.

"I see," Kakashi said. Sakura appeared next to Kakashi.

"Congratulations, Naruto! I heard from Tsunade-sama herself!"

"Hmm?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

Sakura looked at Kakashi. "He doesn't know?" she asked her sensei.

"I didn't tell him yet," Kakashi said.

"Sensei, you're too lazy!" Sakura shouted.

"Tell me what?!" exclaimed Naruto.

"The Hokage decided to promote you," Kakashi said simply.

"To chunin?" Naruto asked.

"To jounin," Sasuke said.

The group covered their ears at Naruto's earsplitting celebration.

When he was done, they offered some congratulations.

"Naruto, don't you want me to heal those bruises?" Sakura offered politely.

"Sakura, please believe me for once. You do not want to heal him. In fact, you should add to his injuries," Sasuke remarked.

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"You don't need to know," Sasuke said. Naruto snickered, but stopped when Sasuke looked at him. Their food was served, and Naruto began to eat fervently.

"This is yours, Naruto," Kakashi said. He passed a scroll.

"Naruto, what was that strange technique you used?" Sasuke asked after he finished his bowl.

"Tsubasa called it the "chakra discharge"," Naruto answered between mouthfuls of ramen.

"How does that thing work?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, this what he told me," Naruto answered.

--- Flashback

_The earth was barren and cold. There were only rocks around this area. The only sound was of the wind howling through the clearing. The only light came from the setting sun._

_"Tsubasa-sensei, it's too damn cold!" Naruto pouted. He was tired from the earlier activities._

_"Quiet, fool!" Tsubasa answered. "I told you that I would teach you something cool, so be quiet and listen!"_

_"This technique is called a "chakra discharge. It's quite common in these parts. It's basically an attack that uses pure chakra," he said._

_"All you have to do is to concentrate chakra in a certain region, which is different for each person, and release it at once in a powerful attack. Normally I wouldn't teach you this technique. There are more useful techniques, and this one uses quite a bit of chakra. However, this jutsu's effectiveness is dependent on the quality of the user's chakra. You are the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi's chakra mixes with your chakra to a certain degree, increasing the strength of this jutsu significantly," Tsubasa explained._"Not only that Naruto. Your chakra is powerful enough to withstand the Kyuubi's which makes you very strong,"_ he thought._

_"Also, this jutsu is used as a sort of duel jutsu. Two rivals will use this jutsu against each other. The man with stronger chakra wins. I think it would be good idea for you to know this jutsu in case you ever get involved in a fight around here," Tsubasa finished._

_He spent five minutes showing Naruto how and where to concentrate the chakra. Naruto concentrated as much chakra as he could in his mouth. Tsubasa could feel the power growing inside Naruto. Naruto opened his mouth and released it all at once. It was very messy. Some chakra shot out at different angles. The vast majority of it headed towards Tsubasa. When the jutsu ended, Naruto dropped to the ground. The jutsu was quite exhausting. He heard Tsubasa approach him. He looked up._

_Tsubasa's right hand was smoldering. A small part of the skin had melted away. _

"Not bad for a first try," _thought Tsubasa. "Pathetic. You'll have to work a lot to get the hang of it. But the sun is almost down. Kaiya should have dinner ready for us."_

_Any sign of fatigue in Naruto disappeared at the mention of dinner. Tsubasa slowly followed him back to the village and a warm meal._

---

"I see, so the jutsu is good for you, who has the best chakra out of all of us," Kakashi stated.

"Yeah," Naruto said. He finished his eighth bowl.

"Naruto, you'll have to wake up early tomorrow for your mission. Go home and sleep," Kakashi advised.

"Fine," Naruto said. He was full for today. He payed only half price, a congratulations gift from Teuchi and Ayame. He waved goodbye to his sensei and Sakuraand left with Sasuke.

When he reached Sasuke's apartment, he took a look at the contents of the scroll. Inside was a brand new jounin uniform. He eyed it in awe, and took in the nice smell of the new attire. As he went to bed for the night, he realized that he was one step closer to his dream.

---

The night rain masked all other sounds in the forest. Ino sighed. The rain was definitely going to mess up her hair.

"Ino," called Shikamaru. She went over to see him. He and Chouji were sitting around a fire.

"Did you extract anything from our friend?" Chouji asked. He rummaged his pocket and found a bag of chips, which he ate in about ten seconds.

Ino shook her head, and Shikamaru sighed. This mission was such a drag. He heard some footsteps and got up. Yamato appeared. He was holding a man dressed in a weird camouflage uniform. His face was masked, and he wore a headband with a musical note on it. He was bound by mokuton ninjutsu.

"Five minutes are up. Chouji, its your turn to carry him. We'll go as fast as possible. They probably sent trackers after him," Yamato ordered. The group got up.

The prisoner stirred when Chouji picked him up with little effort. He was probably faking sleep.

_"Just wait until he wakes up to the sound of Konoha's interrogation squad,"_thought Shikamaru. The team headed into the night with their captive. When they reached Konoha, they were greeted by the rising sun.

-

-

Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews; they were pretty helpful. Sorry if I couldn't get the all of the errors out of this chapter. I'm also sorry for the delay. My computer always found a way to delete my unsaved progress. Criticism is always appreciated. Thanks for reading. :D


	3. Escort

Naruto's eyes reluctantly opened to Sasuke's voice.

"Hurry up, we have a mission," Sasuke said curtly and then walked away. Naruto looked at his clock. Six o'clock in the morning. He rolled out of bed and on to the floor. He lay there for a few minutes before he picked himself up and dressed. He thought the uniform was perfect on him.

"Wow," said Sasuke. "I think that's the first time I've ever seen you without that horrid orange."

Naruto was to tired to think of a retort. He shoved a fruit in his mouth and followed Sasuke out of the apartment.

Naruto sleepwalked the whole way to the gate.

"What are we doing here? Shouldn't we be in Ba-chan's office?" Naruto asked in a slurry voice once he realized where they were.

"You took so damn long to get ready that I thought it was better just to come here. Kakashi or Sakura can brief us on the mission," Sasuke answered with a yawn.

"There you are!" yelled Sakura fifteen minutes later. She and Sai were dragging a very sleepy Kakashi.

"Why weren't you at Tsunade-sama's office?! Sakura demanded.

"Naruto took too long to get ready," Sasuke said simply.

"Naruto! You're a jounin now! You should have much more responsibility!" Sakura chided.

"Sakura, every teacher of mine that has been a jounin was either a pervert, a lazy bum, or both," Naruto answered dreamily.

"Naruto, I'm not included in that group, am I?" Kakashi asked. Sakura muffled her laughter and Sasuke just stared at his sensei.

"Did you have another long night, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"He was probably reading his smut," Naruto piped up. Kakashi ignored their laughter.

"We will be late," Sai said.

"Right," Kakashi said. He straightened up. "This mission is supposed to be very easy. It's just an escort mission."

"Then why is the Hokage assigning a team of jounin to the mission?" Sasuke asked. He didn't like the idea of waking up early just to babysit.

"This is a diplomatic mission," Kakashi answered. "We can't afford to be late for this mission. Also, this is Tsunade-sama's way of showing the clients our concern with their well-being. So be on your best behavior. Let's go."

"Things really have changed," Naruto said. "I could never imagine Kakashi urging others to be on time." Sakura took the moment to awake Naruto by means of a slap.

They sped off towards the northeastern border while Naruto complained to Sakura of the pain in his cheek. It took little over an hour to reach their established destination.

"Kakashi, where is the rendezvous point?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi looked at a map briefly before responding. "I'm pretty sure it's around here. Sai, could you look for us?"

Sai drew a bird, and made it come to life. He jumped on and disappeared over the trees.

"The rest of will split up. Be careful," Kakashi advised before disappearing as well.

_"Why would he tell us to be careful on an easy escort mission?" _thought Sasuke.

He wandered around for a few minutes. Whoever they were looking for, they hid well. Maybe a genjutsu? Or was he just sleepy? He explored a bit more.

An unnatural rustle was heard directly behind him. He turned around lethargically. A shape flew out at his left side. There was a glint of steel. The sword was stabbed through Sasuke's neck. Then he burst into smoke. A log stood in Sasuke's place. A blue haired girl dressed in a navy kimono with a tattoo on her neck and a shuriken earring frowned. Her blue bangs covered her eyes, but Sasuke could see that she was rather attractive.

She turned around and blocked Sasuke's stab. He jumped back.

"Who are you?" he demanded. The girl answered by rushing him and assailing him from all sides with her katana. Her form was impressive. At the very least, she was his equal.

"Does it matter?" the girl answered.

"Yes," Sasuke answered. She grinned and lunged. Sasuke blocked her blade inches from his face. His own blade was also inches from her hand. She began to edge her blade forward.

_"If she does that, she'll cut my face, but I can hurt her sword arm, which will ultimately benefit me. What the hell is she doing?"_Sasuke thought.

"You seem confused," the girl said. "Let me warn you: swordplay isn't my only ability!" Her hair shifted, and her vibrant eyes became visible. They seemed to glow.

Her sword touched Sasuke's face and she pulled it back to cut him. He did the same to her arm. The second they pulled back, a bluish substance was withdrawn from Sasuke's face. It seemed glued to the sword. Then the sword absorbed it like a sponge. Then the wound on her arm began to heal.

"What the hell?" Sasuke exclaimed. That had hurt a lot more than he thought it would. The girl smiled and her eyes flashed. Sasuke jumped back and began making hand seals.

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!" A fireball sped towards the girl. She stood her ground and raised her left hand. The fireball hit her. It was supposed to engulf the area in flames. But instead, it stopped, and became smaller. It shrunk to nothing. The girl stood with her palm raised. She rushed him faster than before. Sasuke was barely able to block in time.

_"Time to play serious,"_thought Sasuke. His eyes turned red.

Before he could do anything, the girl froze in mid-swing. A strange kunai was held at the back of her neck.

"Drop your weapon," Naruto said in a commanding voice. The girl scowled and laid it gently on the ground.

"Now, who are you?" Naruto asked.

"Reika! Where are you? The escort is here!" a voice called. Another young woman appeared from behind a tree. Her face was as gentle as the blue girl's, except her hair was dark and stuffed with hair pins, and she was wearing a black skirt and jacket. A pair of square glasses covered her black and white eyes. She raised an eyebrow at the scene. Naruto and Sasuke saw her right hand fall casually, not far from a handle sticking out from under her jacket.

"Are you from Konoha?" the woman asked. Naruto nodded.

"Reika! You should know better than to attack your allies," the woman shouted at the girl.

"I didn't know-" the woman called Reika began, but before she could finish, the woman moved with surprising speed in front of her and grabbed Reika's head. The woman turned Reika's head to face her. After a second, she turned to Sasuke.

"I apologize for her behavior. She likes to fight too much," the woman said with a bow. "And you should know better than to lie to me!" the woman finished with a glare.

"Yes pinhead," Reika said with a roll of her eyes.

"Come on, I will take both of you to our campsite. My name is Masa," the woman said as she set off, dragging the other girl. Sasuke and Naruto followed.

After five minutes they stumbled upon a clearing packed with people. Everyone looked tired and worn out from all the traveling. Most were taking advantage of the respite to relax and rest. Their eyes always wandered though, and all of them had some kind of weapon on display.

The woman led them directly to a small group in front of them. Naruto recognized the three people from the other day. The old man was talking with Kakashi, and the other two were playing cards. As they approached, the woman immediately made a motion to draw the huge weapon on her back, but stopped when she saw who they were.

"Where were you?" Kakashi asked Sasuke.

"They had some difficulties in arriving here," the Masa answered, shoving Reika in front of her.

The woman sighed.

"Always causing trouble, aren't you?" the woman said.

"Sorry Natsumi-sama," mumbled Reika.

Natsumi turned her attention to Kakashi.

"Konoha sent only five people to escort us?" Natsumi asked in a disappointed voice.

"So? Five is enough. It's not like we need an escort anyway," the man said with a fanged grin.

"No one asked you," Natsumi responded.

"Natsumi, the old man began, you do realize that this is the Hatake Kakashi? And that is Uchiha Sasuke, the man who defeated Orochimaru. They sent some of their best. Or their most famous."

"Why wasn't I included?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"Isn't it obvious? Because you're not famous," Sasuke answered.

"Whatever," Natsumi said grumpily. "Let's get a move on. Just let me win my dinner."

She looked at her cards, and then pushed her stack of ryou notes forward. The other man matched her bet.

"Three Aces," Natsumi said with a glow. She moved to take the pot.

"Straight, Ace to five," the other man said with a grin. He pocketed the money.

"Damn it! Why is my luck so bad?" Natsumi wailed.

"Actually, I just know how to play cards. Let's go before you decide to lose more money," the man said getting up. He put his hands to his mouth and emitted a strange chirping noise. A bird flew out of the trees and landed on his outstretched finger. He bent down and made a serious of bird sounds. He put the bird to his ear, and after a second, he released it.

"There's no one for around," he announced. Belongings were all sealed in scrolls to facilitate transportation, and the younger children would be carried. Some of the older ones were making a fuss about wanting to go running with adults.

"Naruto, stay with me. Sasuke, Sakura, cover the rear. Sai will fly above us," directed Kakashi.

"This is taking too long already," growled the woman. The entire group sped off into the trees. Kakashi and Naruto were at the front with the leaders and some kids.

"Kakashi-sensei, shouldn't there be more people? There are too many people just for one team! And they said that they didn't need anyone escorting them anyway!" Naruto said.

"This is just a gesture, Naruto. These people are capable of defending themselves on their own. We're just escorting them to Konoha," Kakashi answered.

"What for?" Naruto asked. Kakashi sighed.

"Because Konoha needs more ninja," Kakashi said simply. "Ever since the Third Ninja World War, Konoha has been in decline. Over the last 17 years, are village has been directly attacked three times. Right now, Konoha's power is lower than ever. Konoha and Suna, are only true ally, are probably the weakest of the five hidden villages from the Elemental countries. So, in order to replenish our numbers and fortify ourselves against a war, we accepted these clans into the village."

"Hm. They're different from other clans in Konoha," Naruto remarked.

"They aren't from around here. They may be strange to you, but we may be strange to them as well," Kakashi said.

"You're Hatake Kakashi, right?" Natsumi called.

"Yes," he replied.

"You seem different," she said thoughtfully. "How can I say it? You look more.. relaxed, I guess."

"Really?" Kakashi said with no interest.

"Well, you were a stuck up annoying brat! Always following one rule or another! You were unbearable!" the woman exclaimed. The man whispered something to the old man and they both laughed and reached into their pockets.

"Do I know you?" Kakashi asked.

"Do you want to?" the woman said with a wink. Naruto saw the pointed teeth man receive some coins from the older guy with a huge grin, and the older man slapped a hand to his face.

"Kakashi-sensei used to follow rules?" Naruto asked.

Of course! What makes you think he wouldn't?" the woman exclaimed with surprise.

"He's never on time! He just reads his dirty books the whole time!" Naruto responded.

"Thanks, Naruto," Kakashi said with a sigh as the woman burst into laughter.

Some time later, they heard a huge yawn erupt from behind them. The fang toothed man was stretching in the air.

"Hey, how much longer till we get there? I'm starving," he complained.

"You're too impatient, Kumakichi. We'll get there eventually," Natsumi said sharply.

"Hypocrite," snarled Kumakichi.

"A good hunter cannot stalk his quarry in a hurry," remarked Natsumi.

"But you're not a good hunter!" Kumakichi pointed out.

"What did you say? You smelly beast!" Natsumi shouted.

"That's enough children," the older man remarked serenely. Both of them immediately looked remorseful and became silent at once. The children and young adults behind them snickered at the display.

The journey continued on with only the chatter of the youngsters behind them. Occasionally some shouting would be heard and one would fall from a tree, only to quickly catch up. They continued without stopping towards Konoha. Eventually, the trees became familiar to Naruto. Within minutes they were in front of Konoha's gate. Although the younger ones looked excited, the older adults looked disappointed.

"We're almost done," Kakashi remarked to Naruto. "You can watch from the roof. Soon, the main part of the goup will split. Sai will konw where to go. After they reach their destination, you guys are dismissed. Do whatever you feel like for the rest of the day."

"Ok," Naruto replied. He jumped on an apartment building and slowly accompanied the procession. He could see many workers being distracted from their tasks, many onlookers stare with slightly open mouths at the strange crowd. They probably had never seen so many tattoos. Likewise, some of the newcomers were distrusting of their surroundings, their eyes darting to and fro. Some seemed relieved to be in a city, and they smiled widely and relaxed. And some were neutral to all their surroundings.

After a while, he saw Kakashi head in the direction of the Hokage's office. Behind him again were those three people followed by the people who had gone in the front of the pack. What was so important about them anyway? While he was observing the group, Sai and his ink bird moved in front and led the rest in a different direction. When Naruto looked again, Sakura was laughing at him in the distance. He hurried to catch up.

"He actually realized we left him behind. I thought he would stay there the whole time," Sasuke said as Naruto landed next to him.

"Shut up!" cried Naruto.

"Naruto! You're talking with us, not Sai!" Sakura chided as she rubbed her ears.

"What? That wasn't too loud for Naruto, Sakura," Sasuke remarked.

"Whatever," Naruto said as he turned his head away.

"Finally! We're about done!" Sasuke said relieved. "I'm hungry."

"Really?" Sakura asked disbelievingly.

"Just let Sai handle everything," Sasuke said.

True enough, they arrived had at a newly constructed compound. They saw Sai talk briefly with one man. Then Sai inclined his head and left. The other man began to direct the crowd.

"See? Sai can handle it," Sasuke said.

"Sai isn't the most reliable person for communication, Sasuke. Trust me, you haven't seen how bad he can get," Sakura said.

"That wasn't helpful at all!" Naruto whined. "I thought I would beat up some guys and have fun! That didn't even wake me up! I still have enough energy to go there and back and beat Sasuke ten times!"

"You shouldn't boast or lie," Sasuke advised.

"I wasn't! I was telling the truth," Naruto said with a grin.

"Do you want to make that a bet? If you beat me, then I buy you dinner; if you lose, you pay my meals for the week," Sasuke challenged.

"Sasuke, um, do you know how much that will cost you?" Sakura asked. If Naruto won, then Sasuke might not be able to pay the rent.

"I won't lose," Sasuke said simply.

"Deal!" Naruto said gleefully. He wasn't going to be buying dinner for anyone that week. "But before that, I wanna eat!" Sakura sighed and put a hand to her forehead. How could anyone accept such an unfair bet?

Naruto disappeared.

"Idiot. Wait for me at least," mumbled Sasuke.

"At least you know where he went," Sakura replied.

"Of course," Sasuke said. He jumped off without another word.

"Where did he go?" Sai asked, surprising Sakura.

"Lunch," Sakura replied. She began to leave.

"Where are you going?" Sai asked.

"I feel like doing some research. I'll eat later," Sakura answered.

_"I wanted to look for some books at the library as well,"_Sai thought. "Can I come too?"

Sakura stopped and turned around. She had a small smile.

"If you enjoy dissecting corpses, by all means," she answered.

_"Not the library. The morgue," _Sai thought.

--

Hinata yawned. The day had been extremely tedious so far. Her father had some very important meeting, and he had made her come along. Although she appreciated the fact that he actually called her to go with him, the event had been extremely boring. It was somewhat of an introduction to the leaders of the clans her father kept mentioning at dinner. They were a strange bunch. But in the end, only her father did any talking at all. Now she really felt like doing something. Neji was on a mission and she had no idea as to when he would return, so if she was going to do anything, it would be solo. She felt like practicing something, so she grabbed a water bottle and went to the training space in the courtyard, but Hanabi was already there, training hard to stay at the top of her class. She would just look for a training ground. She actually preferred training in the grass and among the trees than in the dirt and surrounded by the challenging stares of the Hyuuga who thought her inferior to her cousin.

She began looking for her favorite place: a tree infested training ground with some open space on a riverbank, where Team 8 would train always train their stealth and tracking skills. She found an empty space and began to do some stretching exercises before beginning. As she silently stretched, she began hearing faint sounds of what sounded like a spar not too far away. She silently activated her byakugan and looked for the source. Whoever was fighting, they were going at it pretty fiercely.

Not too far down the river, two ninja were ferociously clashing. Their movements were extremely fast, and the chakras they were emitting were rather impressive for just a spar. One of them had black hair and the other one had a very light hair color, she couldn't tell exactly which, because everything she saw was colored black and white. She traveled a bit to get a better look at the combatants. As she had seen, one had black hair, the other one was blond, just like Naruto.

"Could it be?" she wondered, her heart beating slightly faster. Neji had told her after all.

She could see that the black haired man was Sasuke. So the other one had to be Naruto. He even had those strange markings on his face. He had grown more after a year. Not only that, she could tell that he was on pretty much even footing with Sasuke, although Sasuke wasn't using his sharingan. She stood there watching for a few minutes, completely forgetting about her own training. A kunai landed on a tree right next to her, instantly putting her on alert. Sasuke's arm was still outstretched.

"Oh. I thought it might have been a stalker," Sasuke said. Hinata blushed a bit.

"Hi Hinata," Naruto said tentatively. He seemed flustered. This didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke.

"What are you doing? Is something wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"Um, the training ground in my home is already being used," Hinata replied. Sasuke sighed and picked up his blade.

"Feel free to join us," he said lazily.

"No, I'm sorry I interrupted you, I'll just-"

"Train alone?" Sasuke asked. "It'll be a good experience for you. And for Naruto. Maybe he can keep up with your taijutsu. Or you can hit him hard in the head," Sasuke said seriously.

"Hinata's probably better than you too," Naruto said.

"Idiot. I'll take a break. You two can fight for a little while," Sasuke said as he hefted his blade onto his shoulder and walked away.

"Teme," Naruto whispered. _"Damn this. Ero-senin never told me anything decent about how to deal with girls. Kakashi never said anything either, neither did Iruka. And Tsubasa didn't help at all!_ _All he said was that pretty women are expensive."_

"Naruto-san..." he heard Hinata say.

"It's okay if you don't want to spar, you know..." Hinata said quietly.

"Huh? Of course I want to!" he said with sudden vigor. He took a ready stance. Hinata gave a very small smile and activated her byakugan.

Naruto sprang out fast at her, but Hinata blocked him easily with one hand. Her other hand struck his exposed left arm. He recoiled from the pain.

"Maybe I shouldn't use byakugan, Naruto-san," Hinata suggested.

"But that wouldn't be fair!" Naruto exclaimed. "It would make things easier! It's not that it gives you too much of an advantage anyway."

Hinata knew he was lying. His left arm was dangling useless by his side.

"Hold on a second," Naruto said. He concentrated for a few seconds, then stretched his left arm and started moving it in a circle. It wasn't better, but he wouldn't have to worry too much about it.

"Okay! Good enough!" he exclaimed. His hands formed a seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Dozens of Narutos appeared. They circled her and began moving around her. She couldn't keep her attention on all of them at once, much less tell the real one apart.

Two clones charged her from different angles. She hit one with her fist and the other with her foot. Four more descended upon her. She slid out of the middle and dispatched two before being forced to dodge by the other two. Before she could lose her balance she jumped out of the middle. As she landed on the ground, two Narutos sprouted from the ground grabbing both of her legs.

"Naruto touched me," Hinata thought with delight before remembering that at the moment it wasn't such a good thing. A bunch of other clones attempted to block any chance of escape.

"Kaiten!" A sphere of blue chakra sent all of the clones flying. They were soon replaced by new clones. Although their taijutsu was good, Hinata's byakugan rendered taijutsu obsolete. Whatever he had used to beat Neji, he certainly wasn't using it now. But the exercise did push her a lot, because not only did she have to keep up with at least a dozen Narutos at all time, she was unintentionally also doing her best to impress him.

They lost track of time as they spared. Only when Sasuke returned did they notice that it was dark.

"Oi! Teme! Where have you been?" Naruto exclaimed before barely getting away from a jyuken strike that would've crushed his stomach.

"I'm sorry Naruto!" Hinata said.

"Huh? What for?" Naruto asked puzzled.

"I could have crushed your internal organs!" Hinata said.

"Oh! It's okay, that's nothing!" Naruto said with a grin. Sasuke shook his head at Naruto's tough guy attitude and sat on a fallen tree.

"It's okay Hinata. If you crush his stomach, maybe he'll stop dragging us to his ramen stand," Sasuke remarked while looking at his sharpened blade.

"That food is excellent! And that reminds me: who is dinner on tonight?" Naruto asked as he threw a lazy strike towards Hinata's shoulder.

"Isn't that obvious? You of course!" Sasuke answered.

"Why me? I didn't lose!" Naruto cried as he tried to land a hit on Hinata. When he missed, he took a moment to make a face at Sasuke.

"Behind you," Sasuke remarked.

Naruto turned around to be greeted by a palm in the face. Hinata immediately began apologizing frantically.

"I think that counts as a loss," Sasuke said with a smirk. "Thanks Hinata, you just bought me my food for the week."

"But Hinata beat me, not you!" Naruto whined.

"I said that if you lost, you would pay my meals for the week. And if you won, I would pay your dinner tonight. And you agreed."

"I'm sorry Naruto-san!" Hinata said. She felt bad knowing that he would have to pay for Sasuke's food because of her.

"It's okay Hinata! Sasuke's just being an idiot!" Naruto reassured her. "You can rest a bit and watch as I teach Sasuke a lesson."

"On how to lose," Sasuke said getting up.

"You teach that subject, teme!" Naruto said before charging him. He drew two strange kunai from his holster and slashed at Sasuke from opposite angles. Sasuke grabbed one arm with his own and blocked the other kunai with his sword. Naruto saw a bit of red in Sasuke's eyes and immediately looked away. If he got caught in a genjutsu, he was done for. He tried to stab Sasuke's arm with his free hand, and when Sasuke let go of his arm he jumped back. He charged again furiously swinging his arms in a seemingly wild pattern. Hinata was amazed; his style looked completely different from the one he had used before. He probably had not wanted to use kunai against her because she didn't need any weapons to fight. She watched as Sasuke managed to grab Naruto's left arm again. Instead of trying to break free, Naruto tossed the kunai in his left hand upward and caught it with his teeth and attempted to scar Sasuke's nose. Sasuke swore and flew back. He made some seals and blew a huge fireball. Naruto made some other hand signs and blew hard. A strong gust of wind rushed to meet Sasuke's jutsu.

_"A wind jutsu? But that will just increase the power of the fire!" _Hinata thought.

The jutsu was way stronger than usual, and there was a miniature inferno in front of Sasuke. However, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

_"He used the jutsu as a diversion,"_ Hinata realized.

A hand with a kunai burst from the ground and cut Sasuke's leg. He swore and stabbed his sword into the ground. When he drew it out, the tip was bloody.

_"Is Naruto okay?"_Hinata wondered anxiously. Her question was answered when Naruto surfaced about thirty meters away. There was a gash on his left arm. He was scowling.

"I think you hit my muscle or something something, I can't move it that well," Naruto complained.

"Then forfeit," Sasuke said simply.

"Hell no!" Naruto replied.

"Naruto-san, you could worsen your injury," Hinata said with concern in her voice. "Besides, it's already dark. We should find something to cover that wound."

"It's nothing serious," Naruto said.

"Tell that to Sakura. She'll lecture you for the rest of the day about how any wound could become fatal if you lose to much blood or if it gets infected," Sasuke said.

"Wait here, Naruto-san, I'll bring some ointment," Hinata said as she turned to leave.

"It's fine Hinata," Naruto reassured. "Trust me! My wounds always heal fast!"

"It's true," Sasuke said. Hinata opened her mouth slightly and then closed it with a nod.

"Now you can buy me something to eat, I'm hungry," said Sasuke with a smirk.

"Damn you," muttered Naruto.

Both of them turned to leave. Hinata wasn't sure of what she was supposed to do.

"Neh, Hinata, are you gonna leave or come with us?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto's paying, eat as much as you want," Sasuke added. Naruto made a face at him behind his back. Hinata giggled.

"Let's go to Ichiraku!" Naruto suggested with glee.

"Who said you get to pick?" Sasuke said.

"You didn't say anything about choosing the place, teme!" Naruto responded heatedly.

"It's fine," Hinata said quietly.

"Two against one!" Naruto said triumphantly.

"Fine," Sasuke said sourly. _"I'll eat something else later,"_ he thought.

"If you want, I could pay you another time," Hinata suggested.

"No, I'l treat you!" Naruto said with a smile.

_"Naruto? Treating me to dinner?"_ Hinata thought with happiness.

Naruto was greeted by Ayame, who also seemed to know Hinata.

"Hinata, eat as much as you want, okay? You're probably as hungry as I am!" Naruto exclaimed.

"But that wouldn't be nice, because you are paying for me," Hinata said.

"Don't worry, I doubt you eat more than I do! At least thirty percent of my salary must go to Ichiraku's! Not that I mind that much," Naruto explained.

"If you insist," Hinata said. She had heard stories about how much Naruto consummed at the ramen stand.

_"It must be around fifty percent, I think,"_Sasuke thought.

"Hinata, where are Kiba and uh, what's his name?" Naruto asked.

"Shino," Sasuke filled in.

"I don't know. I don't work so often with them nowadays. They work more as trackers now, and they go on long missions in distant places but I still see them at least once a week," Hinata answered. "I think they get back from a mission today."

"What do you do when they're not around?" Naruto asked.

"I train, or go on a mission with a different team. Although lately I haven't gone on that many," Hinata said.

Naruto took a deep breath and inhaled the delicious smell of the kitchen before answering.

"That must suck! Missions are fun, and if you don't go on many, you won't get paid," Naruto said.

"I guess so," Hinata said. She had never had to worry about her financial well being. The clan took care of that. Sasuke gave a small chuckle at Naruto's ignorance

"But you get to train a lot! That's fun! Well, most of the time," Naruto added with a sour look.

"Most of the time?" Hinata asked interested.

Naruto nodded and scowled.

"Sometimes it's hell. You get better, but it's no fun at all," Naruto said.

"Are you talking about your journey?" Sasuke asked.

"Yup. Whenever that idiot wasn't drinking, smoking, gambling, or dragging me to boring places, he was absolutely cruel!" Naruto exclaimed.

"He stranded me in the desert, threw me off a cliff about five times, ruined my favorite shirt and my jacket, made me go without ramen for a year and sleep on the floor!" Naruto complained heatedly.

"Sounds harsh," Sasuke said.

"But it made you stronger, didn't it?" Hinata observed.

"Well... I guess so..." Naruto admitted.

"Here you go!" Ayame said as she laid down the food.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto said before devouring his food. Hinata waited for it to cool down.

Naruto was so hungry he completely forgot about his conversation and ate sixteen bowls. He was beginning to think that he was eating too much ramen.

"That was excellent, as usual. I think this is the best place for ramen. Don't you?" Naruto asked patting his bloated stomach.

"Yes," Hinata answered. Teuchi beamed at the praise. Sasuke shrugged. He was still hungry after eating only one bowl.

How much do I owe you?" Naruto asked Ayame. "Oh! I'm paying for Hinata as well."

Naruto rubbed his ears when he heard the total.

"Sorry, how much?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Aren't you paying for her?" Ayame asked. When Naruto nodded, she continued, "So it's correct. Thirty-six bowls.

"Nani?!!?! Thirty-six? But I only ate sixteen, so then Hinata ate.. twenty bowls!?" Naruto exclaimed, shocked that someone could eat more ramen then he could.

"I'm very sorry! I'll pay you some other time," Hinata said hurriedly, feeling rather embarrassed. She was wondering what she would have for desert.

"I did say I would treat you," Naruto said downcast as he emptied gama-chan. A week's worth of allowance he had earned on his trip gone in a single meal. Gama-chan looked like he was on one hell of an exercise program.

"Naruto, you're paying my dinner too," Sasuke said with a small smile. Naruto looked at him venomously, but stopped himself before he started a fight.

They thanked Ayame and Teuchi and departed.

"I should go. Father or Hanabi will wonder where I went," Hinata said.

"Okay. Goodnight," Naruto said. Sasuke continued walking. As Hinata walked away, he called her. "Any time you want to, feel free to join us."

"Thank you," Hinata answered with a smile. Naruto turned and followed Sasuke.

_"I didn't faint at all!" _she thought with triumph. She then became aware that something slobbery was rubbing against her ankle. Akamaru was right next to her. He looked up and barked in what could pass for a greeting.

"Where were you?" asked a voice to her right.

"Kiba!" Hinata exclaimed in surprise. She hadn't sensed him at all. She looked around. Not far behind was Shino.

"Hinata, that was mean of you!" Kiba said with a laugh. He wasn't tired at all from the day's hunting.

"What did I do?" Hinata asked. She racked her brain in an effort to figure out what she had done to Kiba.

"What did you do? You made Naruto spend a B-rank mission's pay on you! Not to mention that your family is richer than he'll probably ever be," Kiba teased.

"You were spying," Hinata said, going redder by the second.

"No. If we were spying, we would've been hiding. We were across the street, in plain sight," Shino said. "But you were rather, well, occupied shall we say."

"He means that before you ate twenty bowls of ramen you were staring nonstop at Naruto. Man, I wonder if he ever will realize it," Kiba mused.

Hinata felt even more embarrassed. She didn't think that her attraction to Naruto was so obvious that even Kiba would've figured it out.

"I'm tired. Please excuse me," Hinata said before leaving.

"Shino, is she pissed?" Kiba asked.

"No, she's just embarrassed," Shino responded.

"Really? What should we tell her next? The fact that she fails to notice that she turns about every man's head when she walks by?" Kiba said thoughtfully.

"You should reserve a hospital room beforehand and make sure Sakura is available. Unless you want her to die of embarrassment," Shino said. "By the way, you owe me some money."

"Huh? Hinata didn't faint?" Kiba asked disbelievingly.

"No. She would have were it not for Sasuke's presence," Shino responded. With a scowl, Kiba handed over a part of that day's pay.

"Goodnight," Shino said before walking away with the cash in his hands.

--

"Naruto, I'm hungry. Give me some money," Sasuke demanded.

"No! I already bought you dinner! It's your fault you didn't eat anything!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Fine. I guess you already emptied your wallet on Hinata. Twenty bowls! And that wasn't even a date!" Sasuke said with a smirk. When Naruto turned his head away in annoyance and to hide his slowly reddening face, Sasuke began to count the money he had pick pocketed from Naruto.

"I met up with Sakura while I was gone. She wanted to tell us that tomorrow we have a real mission," Sasuke said.

"Like the kind where I get to show my skills?" Naruto asked excitedly, his money troubles already forgotten.

"Yeah, so we have to rest tonight," Sasuke responded.

"I can't wait!" Naruto exclaimed with glee.

"Yes, yes. You really need some money because you have to by my dinner again tomorrow night, you know," Sasuke pointed out with a smirk. "Also, if you don't have any money, you can't take Hinata out for dinner again.

"Why would I do that?" Naruto asked.

"Isn't that obvious? She probably puts most of the women in those dirty books you read to shame!" Sasuke said.

"You read them too!" Naruto shouted.

"Shut up! People might actually believe you!" Sasuke shouted. Some of the onlookers began giggling at the dialogue.

"Hmph! It's true!" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke shook his head and continued walking home. He would end up hurting Naruto if they argued any further. Tomorrow would be an important mission.

The prisoner Yamato had brought in had been useful, according to Sakura. Which meant that tomorrow would be a real mission, and a quite dangerous one at that. But dangerous only from Sakura's point of view. At least Sasuke hoped so.


	4. The Objective Is Discovery

Naruto yawned loudly in response to the slowly ascending sun. Once again his hopes of sleeping in were dashed by a mission. Sasuke didn't look that great either as they dragged themselves towards the Hokage tower.

"Sasuke, what time is it?" Naruto asked in an almost incomprehensible tone.

"I don't want to know," Sasuke answered sleepily. "I'll just feel bad for myself.

At the entrance to the tower, they found Sai, his normally impassive face contaminated with fatigue.

"Where's everyone else?" Sasuke asked.

"Probably upstairs waiting," Sai answered with some effort.

On the way up, Sasuke and Sai had to stop their companion from taking the wrong door. Twice.

Inside Tsunade's office the curtains were pulled to block the sun's glaring rays. The other half of Kakashi, Sakura, Yamato, and Shino were already inside.

"What a surprise. We're last," Sasuke remarked dully.

"Your fault," Naruto muttered. Sasuke punched him and started a dispute regarding whose fault it was that their alarm clock never woke them up on time.

Tsunade coughed. When they failed to notice. Sakura began cracking her knuckles. That got their attention.

"Since everyon is present, I will brief you on the mission now," Tsunade said.

"Half of you don't know this, but yesterday we were finally able to capture a sound ninja." Sakura and Kakashi looked very surprised. Naruto didn't know what his reaction should be.

"Unfortunately, we had difficulties in extracting information,"Tsunade continued. "Even Ibiki's tactics did not work. He wouldn't let one word out of his mouth. Not even his name, favorite color or food. Luckily for us, a Kinkou member agreed to help in the interrogation. She was able to extract the general area of their village.

At this point Naruto had some questions. Who where these Kinkou people? Weren't the Sound located in Rice Country? He raised his hand.

"Yes Naruto?" Tsunade said. She seemed to know this was coming.

"Who're these Kinkou pe-" Naruto began.

"One of the groups you escorted yesterday. The one with black and white eyes," Tsunade answered. She then continued with the mission explanation. "Aside from that, the only thing we were able to confirm is that Kabuto is still among the Sound ranks, he might even be their leader. At midnight today, the prisoner died suddenly. Shizune should come out with the autopsy soon. Now that we know where the Sound village is around, we don't need to lose any more time. As such, I will be dispatching two teams to confirm this." She rummaged through her desk in search of something. A faint clink of glass was audible.

"Here," Tsunade said as she threw a scroll to Yamato. "On that map are all known locations where Sound have been sighted, as well as Orochimaru's hideouts and the area where Sound is supposedly located. Try to avoid combat. If we can confirm this, we might be one step closer to eliminating a potential enemy.

"Don't worry, ba-chan! I'll be enough for all of them! Then we don't have to start a war or something!" Naruto proclaimed with sudden vigor.

"Baka! The Sound are strong, and they are proficient at using genjutsu! They'll have you attacking Mist or Lightning instead!" Tsunade exclaimed. She had already asked Kakashi to keep an eye on him.

"Hokage-sama, if that's all, we'll be going now," Yamato said. He inclined his head and left. The others began to file out as well.

"Wait!" Tsuande ordered. They paused.

"Who said all of you are going? The team I'm sending is Yamato, Naruto, Shino, and Sai! The others have a special assignment. Good luck to your team, Yamato.

After Yamato's team left, Tsunade addressed The remaining shinobi.

"You will have an assignment just as important. In fact, you didn't have to wake up so early," Tsunade said.

"Tsunade-sama, you ordered me to tell Team seven to meet you at 5:30," Sakura pointed out.

Oh! That's right, but I changed my mind," Tsunade said. Anyway, here's your mission..."

--

"I will see you three later," Tsunade said when she finished explainin. Once they were gone, Shizune entered carrying a mountain of paperwork. Tsunade looked at the clock. A quarter past five. And already the day looked bad.

"Shizune, where are the autopsy results?" Tsunade asked, irritated.

"Somewhere in there," Shizune said hurriedly before leaving the room.

"Oi! Shizune! Get back in here and tell me yourself!" Tsunade shouted.

Shizune entered carrying another mountain of paperwork.

"My apologies, Tsunade-sama. I'll tell you when I finish getting all the paperwork in," Shizune said.

"Why is there so much?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, you have to fill in a number of forms for our new members. You have to grant them citizenship, sign off on their integration to our forces, grant them permission to trade and open bank accounts, and I think some other things. Aside from your other paperwork," Shizune explained.

Tsunade didn't even care that Shizune saw her drinking on duty. In fact, Shizune seemed to sympathize with her for once.

--

At the gate, Yamato explained the travel route for the mission.

"There's no need to rush at all. According to the map, we can reach the place in about three or four hours if we push ourselves. That way, we can look at the territory and determine a strategy to infiltrate the place. It could be a Sound base or their home village. If it's the latter, I think we might need some more men."

"I think I could handle all of them," Naruto muttered. Yamato sighed.

"Talking around here won't help us," Shino remarked. Yamato jumped off, and the remaining followed him. The morning air was cool and refreshing, and the leaves were clothed in dew. The only sounds heard aside from the were the rushing of the shinobi and the crack of a branch whenever Naruto misjudged his step.

"I'm tired!" Naruto said defensively when Shino stared at him after breaking his sixth branch.

"Just from a dinner?" Shino asked.

"Huh?" Naruto exclaimed perplexed.

Sai put a hand to his face. Naruto might be extremely capable of thinking a clever strategy for battle, but sometimes he could be so... dumb.

After a while, Naruto decided to go in the front with Yamato, tired of thinking about Shino's strange remark.

"Yamato-taichou, don't we already know where Sound is? Why are we looking for it again?" Naruto asked Yamato. He groaned at the prospect of explaining the situation early in the morning.

"It's like this Naruto: We lost track of Kabuto shortly after you left. You remember his situation, right? After all, you saw him," Yamato said.

"Yeah," Naruto answered. He remembered Kabuto's incorporation of Orochimaru.

"So, a few months later, the ANBU completely lose track of Sound. They disappeared without a trace from the sight of our patrols. We would've been in real trouble were it not for Sasuke," Kakashi explained.

""That teme?" Naruto asked incredously.

"Sasuke had information on all of Orochimaru's bases. We spent some months looking at everything. All of Orochimaru's studies and data had disappeared. All of it. In a base to the south, we found a lone man retrieving something. Upon his capture, he spilled everything. After Orochimaru's death, they decided to regroup somewhere else, as they no longer had his power on their side. It seems that Kabuto is either the leader or a person of significance in their village, because the man was doing a favor and checking to see if Kabuto had left anything. Ibiki got the location of a storehouse, and we followed a trail. Finally, we seemed to have stumbled on somewhere important. Of course, there is a possibility that this is all a trap. So we have to be very careful," finished Yamato.

They soon came to a town just inside Rice country, not far from their final destination. They ate lunch, with Naruto eating as much as he could before being reminded that he would pay for his lunch. After the meal, they paid and left. The town wasn't much: a bunch of crudely organized wood buildings, some empty stalls, and a dusty road going straight through the town. There were some farms visible, but not many other businesses. Nothing worth taking a look at. The Konoha shinobi walked out of the town without another glance.

--

A man was sitting at a bar in the same humble restaurant where the group of Konoha shinobi had killed their hunger. He payed for his alcohol and left. He went to his room in the rusty motel and locked the door. He pulled out a scroll and brush, and began writing a missive. It had been months since he had seen any shinobi pass by the town, and certainly none of them had left heading northeast. He finished writing, sealed the scroll and bit his thumb. He whispered some indistinguishable words and traced a line of blood around the paper cylinder. A few second later, a white flame began burning at the tip of the scroll, and it soon consumed the entire message. Satisfied, he jumped on his bed and decided to rest. His part was finished.

--

"We're almost there," Yamato alerted the group. They were getting into a more densely forested area, different from the rice fields that gave the country its name.

They drastically reduced their pace to facilitate the detection of any enemy shinobi. Soon Yamato raised his hand and signaled for everyone to stop.

"Shino, can you sense anything?" Yamato asked. Shino released a few bugs to look at the area.

"We captured the spy around here, so we already know that the place we're looking for is around here," Yamato said before jumping on a branch to keep watch.

Fifteen minutes later, a bug returned to Shino's palm.

"It seems, that they have put up a genjutsu," Shino remarked. "My bugs were able to sense chakra, but they could find no one.

"Show us," Yamato ordered. Shino led them to a particularly dense part of the forest. He pointed out a spot. Yamato clasped his hands together and released the seal. Their was a change in the pattern of trees.

Naruto jumped on a branch and looked through the leaves. He found himself staring at a small clearing, with a hole in the middle of it. There were no trees but there were some rocks, including one that looked like a pole stuck with spines. It looked so strange you had to wonder if it was really natural. But what caught his attention the most were the quartet of men in grey uniforms and headbands with a musical note. They looked very alert, surveying their surrounding with distrusting eyes. Something was off about that. He slowly walked down the tree and rejoined the group.

"There are four in the open, and I saw two in the trees," Yamato said.

"Two more amidst the rocks," Shino said.

"This is strange though. This base is hidden in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a genjutsu, and the guards still expect someone to attack them," Yamato pointed out.

"Maybe we should've stayed out of the town," Sai said.

"I don't know, they would have to have some very efficient way of communicating, it's only an hour and a half at most since we left there,"Yamato said.

"Anyway, we should think about these guards," Naruto siad.

"It would be best if we did it quietly," Shino said. They nodded in agreement and disappeared.

"I'll take the ones in the trees, Shino and Sai can take the ones in the rocks. Naruto, you take out the rest," ordered Yamato. They acknowledged their commands and departed.

--

A guard yawned loudly. This was so tedious. They had gotten a message that company was on the way, but so far no one had arrived. He was finding it difficult to keep watch over his surroundings. At least it would be over soon. He didn't notice the trees behind him and his partner sprout extra branches.

--

Shino extended his arms, and his insects slowly made their way towards the lazy man in the rocks. The man stretched, thanked his luck for being able to stay in a place where his superiors wouldn't notice him slacking off. He nearly jumped out of his place when he saw a snake slithering by. He calmed himself and relaxed. Soon he would be inside enjoying a drink.

--

A man paced around the hole, anxiously awaiting the danger to make it's appearance. He was mimicked by his three teammates as they methodically assessed the area around them. Kabuto-sama would have his head if anything were to happen to the facility. The sounds of the footsteps in the trees did not reach his ears.

--

It was over quite quickly. Among the trees, the guards heard a rustle and turned rapidly. They were quickly stabbed by a tree branches. Four men sprang out of the trees towards the men pacing around the ground. Each man noticed only three shadows. As they alerted their friends, they were quickly disposed of. Except for one, who was his by the blunt end of a kunai.

--

As Naruto threw away the bloody kunai, Yamato observed the unconscious man.

"Shino, get everything you can from him. Make sure you gag him," Yamato directed.

Shino nodded and dragged the prisoner into the trees.

Sai came out from the rocks, and a black snake oozed into the ground near his feet.

Naruto fidgeted while waiting for Shino to come back.

Soon, Shino appeared, minus the prisoner.

"The next change in the guards is in about a minute. They knew we were coming because they have a contact in that small town. And this place holds some sort of importance to Kabuto. Our friend couldn't specify," Shino divulged.

"A minute? It would be easier to intercept them as they came up, rather than start a battle up here," Yamato said thoughtfully. Shino extended his arms and his bugs flew down the entrance. Naruto went after them.

"Wait Naruto!" Yamato called after him to no avail.

"He's as eager as ever," Sai commented. Yamato sighed. Some chilling screams were heard from the hole. After about a half a minute they stopped.

Yamato went down the hole, followed by the other two a few seconds later.

They found themselves in a poorly lit tunnel. There was a single lamp near an iron door that stood out against the dirt. Before it were eight corpses.

"See? Naruto took them out," Sai said.

No, I only finished them off. I was being kind, actually," Naruto corrected. Some of the bugs began to move back towards their master. Yamato approached the door. There was no lock.

"There's no point in staying hidden, now that they know we're here. So..," Naruto said forming a rasengan on his right palm. Yamato immediately edged back. Some winced at the loud crash that alerted everyone in the hideout where they were. Yamato signaled the team to move forward, and they entered the hideout, unsure of what lay in wait for them.

--

"Kabuto-sama! We have confirmed Konoha's infiltration of base seven. Enemy presence is estimated least two squads, and so far we have sixteen casualties," a sound messenger informed.

Kabuto looked up from his table. He was mixing a powder of some sorts, next to him, some chemicals were giving off a nasty smell.

"That is good. Have the subjects been deployed?" Kabuto asked.

"Yes Kabuto-sama!" the messenger said promptly.

"Very well. Now please excuse me," Kabuto said in his polite voice. The man bowed low and disappeared.

Konoha was better than he thought. He hadn't expected the base to be discovered. Not yet at least. He finished mixing his powder and scooped up a very small quantity. He turned to a man in chains against a wall.

"No more... No more...Please...Kill me..." the man moaned. Kabuto put the spoon in front of him.

"Just take this. Take this and it will be over," Kabuto said softly. He pushed the spoon towards the man's mouth. The man hungrily devoured the concoction. He almost laughed.

People were so easy to manipulate.

--

Sai found himself inside a massive, coliseum-like room. But instead of seats, there were prison cells. A lot of them. He had seen such places during his stay with Orochimaru. Except he had a funny feeling about this one. Sure enough, he looked closely, and saw that they were all empty. He signaled that it was okay to proceed and the rest of the shinobi moved forward.

"Where's everyone?" Naruto wondered out loud. The place had too many smells for him to detect anyone. Shino released a few bugs to scout the area, while Naruto moved towards the center, where the was a rather large open space. Yamato followed him.

"Geez, they must've run or something. There isn't anyone at all. Where's the way out? We should get out of here," Naruto stated before looking for another exit.

BOOM!

The others' heads instantly turned towards the source of the explosion. There was now a crater of twenty five meters where Yamato, and Naruto had stood. At the same time, Shino and Sai were pelted by kunai from all sides. They dodged and ran frantically. They had walked headfirst into the enemy's trap, and were now paying the price.

A few shouts could be heard above them. A body tumbled down and barely missed Sai.

"They're on the ceiling!" Sai alerted.

There was a loud bang from above and some shouts of pain. Chunks of earth began to fall in copius amounts.

"An exit!" Sai pointed out to Shino. There was a door on the second level of the room, and without further ado, the pair made a dash for the door. Several enemies dropped off the ceiling and gave chase. Naruto, Yamato, dropped in front of Shino and ran with them. Naruto blew the door open with a rasengan, and the Konoha shinobi ran through the debris. The sound nin that followed were pinned by ink lions or trapped in wooden cages.

"They planned the ambush well enough, but they underestimated us badly," Yamato remarked.

"I would guess that they have pulled back their strongest men farther in," Shino contributed.

"Cowards," Naruto said.

"Or conservative," Sai suggested.

They followed the dark passageway for a few minutes. A fork in the path appeared.

"Here's how we'll split up: Shino will go left with Naruto, Sai and I will take the right path. We don't have anyway to communicate, so if one group finishes exploring one path, they double back and wait here for the other pair. If they take too long, follow the path the other team took. And if the other pair isn't found, well, assume the worst. See you soon," Yamato finished. The shinobi dispersed.

Shino and Naruto rushed in silence down a corridor. They encountered no ambushes or traps. This made them even more suspicious.

Just when they were starting ot become bored, they found themselves in front of a door. It stood ajar. Shino pushed it opened and entered. Naruto followed.

There was a light in the ceiling. The floor was padded, there were some chairs and a water dispenser. To Naruto, it looked like a training dojo. Both men stiffened when they heard a groan. It didn't take them long to find the source. A plain looking brown haired man lay motionless on the floor. He gave no sign of having noticed the invaders. Naruto drew a kunai and approached the man slowly. The man's moaning ceased as he looked at Naruto. He began to foam at the mouth.

_"Crazy wierdo,"_thought Naruto.

"H-h-help m-m-me," the man murmured as he oozed saliva.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"Ka-Kabuto. He did th-this to m-me," the man whispered.

"Let's get you out of here where we can examine you," Naruto suggested. The man's facial response was enough to convey his consent.

Naruto reached down to lift the man up. Naruto noticed a black spot over his left lung.

"Hey, you have a-"

POOF

Naruto burst into smoke. When the smoke cleared, the man was on his feet. He wiped away the saliva from his mouth and rubbed his broken nose.

"I almost believed you fell for that. I was pretty convincing," the man addressed Naruto, who had stepped in to the room. He turned to Shino. "It's rude to speak to another ninja using a bunshin," the man said before he made a swiping motion with his arm. Shino split in half. The pieces became black and disappeared. Shino appeared from behind a pillar.

"Impressive. How did you know I was there?" Shino asked the man.

"You'll see. Or maybe you won't," the enemy replied mockingly. He began moving his fingers in a pattern, as though he was playing an instrument. An eerie pattern of sounds began ringing. After a few seconds, the light in the ceiling disappeared and another simultaneously appeared over the door. Then he broke the rhythm with one long sweep of his arm. Shino split again.

"Please enjoy my performance, Konoha shinobi," the man said with a grin. Naruto performed his signature handsign.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he cried as a dozen clones spawned into existence.

"Nice jutsu, but you shan't hinder me in the least," responded the Shinobi. His fingers began moving in a faster rythme, and as he conducted, the room's appearance constantly changed, from a dojo to a forest, to a riverside, and an empty street. One by one, the clones were cut down by nothing. Shino still hadn't moved from his hiding place. And Naruto had no idea what this technique was.

"Oi! Where's Kabuto?" Naruto shouted. The man gave a huge laugh.

"Who knows? Maybe here," the man hinted. "But you'll never get past me to find out!"

The man's fingers began to move once more. Naruto backed away instinctively. No way in hell was he getting sliced up by whatever this guy used.

He saw something flash very briefly in front of him and disappear. He heard the man mutter a curse. The man repeated the motion. Naruto jumped away again. He glimpsed the flash again. It reminded him of a metal reflection. The man swore loudly and struck up a rhythm again. This time, the black spot on his chest seemed to explode, and black marks stained his skin.

"Shino, that's a curse seal!" alerted Naruto.

The man grinned at Naruto, then the ground around Naruto cracked and shadows crawled up his ankles. He tried to shake them off, but they suddenly tightened like steel around his legs. He fell over and more shadows bound him to the ground.

"I thought you had me figured out. Seems I overestimated your intelligence," mocked the man. His eyes then widened in surprise. Bugs flew at both combatants. The enemy gritted his teeth and turned to liquid. He surfaced on the other side of the room. Naruto was on the ceiling.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait your turn!" he exclaimed. He moved his fingers, creating yet another melodie. Now there was a dim red light below the man, and the sound of a roaring waterfall filled Naruto's ears.

"You can't hide from me here," the man boasted. He plunged his arm downward. The ground began cracking, or so it seemed to Naruto. He jumped off the ceiling and slashed at his opponent. A hole appeared in the man, and Naruto went straight through him. Shino burst out of a hole, the ground under him cracked and gave in.

"This is a genjutsu of some sorts," Shino informed Naruto. "This place is contaminated with chakra. My bugs and I cannot locate the source. We can be sure that that body is an illusion."

The man's grin faded a bit; apparently Shino was correct. In response, the man's fingers began moving again. The lights began changing color and moving, and a wide range of sounds, from a forest to a marketplace, began playing.

"Damn this bastard," Naruto said, very annoyed by the lack of visibility and the irksome noises. He couldn't summon his scroll, so there was no way he could call his clones at Myobukuzan.

He was racking his brains to find a way to break through the genjutsu, when something hit Shino. As Naruto saw his partner's blood spray, Shino flew into the wall, grunting in pain.

"One down," a voice infested with glee announced.

--

Sasuke yawned. The day was sunny and lively, perfect for a walk or some training. He had done a bit of both and taken nap after lunch. He had wondered why she hadn't sent him on the mission in Rice Country. Surely he, who had supplied much of the information on the Sound, should have gone? But when Tsunade had given him his mission, he had understood immediately. He looked at the tree's shadow. It was almost time. He reluctantly got up and made for a training ground nearby. When he reached his destination, he saw that he was last. Again.

He was greeted by Neji and Hinata. No surprise. Of course there would be representatives from Konoha's most powerful clan of the moment. He also spotted Kakashi and Gai. For once, Gai was not pestering his rival. Instead, he was observing the people in front of him.

The group from yesterday was there. The fanged man was snoring on the grass, blissfully unaware of everyone. The older man approached him and nudged him with his foot. No response. Then the purple haired woman punted the man's rib. The man opened his eyes. Then he groaned and rubbed his side. The woman called Natsumi had taken off her jacket, attracting the wandering eyes of most males present.

Tsunade appeared a minute later, followed by Sakura and Shizune. Then the advisers, Homura and Koharu arrived along with Danzo, and a minute before they started, Nara Shikaku, a jounin respected for his quick thinking and strategies arrived. All of the members of the body that governed Konoha had arrived to watch this. Tsunade addressed the assembled.

"As mentioned in our agreement, members of the Kinkou, Ikimono, and Ryoushi clans have agreed to give a demonstration of their abilities to help better identify where they may be of use. You have half an hour," Tsunade finished. She stepped back into the shade of the trees.

The three leaders were joined by two others, a black haired youth that had a striking resemblance to the old man, and the blue haired girl called Ai.

"Natsumi, don't even think about it. Ai can do that," the old man said in an angry voice. Natsumi looked very sorry.

"I was looking forward to having fun. Maybe I could even hit Kumabaka by accident. But you had to spoil my fun, Kouhei," Natsumi said as she grasped her huge weapon.

Kumakichi sniffed the air and grimaced.

Hinata took a deep breath. She wasn't going to fail in front of her father.

"How tense," Shikaku remarked. "Just get on with it.

"As you wish," the Kouhei said. He grabbed his cane and rushed Sasuke.

_"Lucky me,"_Sasuke thought dryly.

Then the rest of the group soon followed. Soon, the pounding of medal and the rushing of legs could be heard from a distance.

--

AN: Sorry for the delay. I have been quite busy, but I still find time to brainstorm. Let me know what you think. Any comment you have for me is helpful. Thanks!

One person mentioned their dislike of overpowered OCs. Well, I share that dislike, so I thought of two ways to contain that situation: one, give them a crucial weakness, and two: make the enemies just as powerful. So even with Naruto as strong as he is, he will have challenges ahead of him.

I don't own Naruto.


End file.
